However, those texts actually furnish no proof at all for the issue at hand. Some people object by quoting Allah’s words, “Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him, but He forgives whatever is less than that for whom He wills” (Q 4:48), claiming that the one who abandons the prayer is included among “whatever is less than that.”
We reply that, by the outward sense of the ḥadīth of Jābir recorded by Muslim, whoever neglects the prayer is deemed a polytheist, even if he never bows before an idol, for he has succumbed to his own whim. Concerning such a person Allah the Exalted says, “Have you seen the one who has taken his own desire as his god, and whom Allah has led astray despite knowledge?” (Q 45:23).
Even were we to concede—purely for the sake of argument—that the implicit meaning of the verse is that anything short of outright polytheism lies under Allah’s will, that very implication has been restricted by ḥadīths which state plainly that the abandoner of the prayer is a disbeliever. When an explicit text—which carries greater evidentiary weight than an implicit inference—is itself qualified by specific evidence, how much more so an implicit inference!
Others cite ḥadīths whose wording is conditioned by matters that make it impossible for anyone who meets them to neglect the prayer. One such report is the Prophet’s statement: “Allah has forbidden the Fire for anyone who says lā ilāha illā Allah (there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah), seeking thereby the Face of Allah.” The phrase “seeking thereby the Face of Allah” categorically prevents a person from abandoning the prayer, for whoever utters lā ilāha illā Allah with that intention must act in accordance with the goal he seeks—namely, the approval of Allah—and the greatest deed by which Allah’s pleasure is obtained is the prayer. Thus this ḥadīth provides no evidence that the one who leaves the prayer is not a disbeliever, for it is bound to a condition that utterly precludes the very possibility of omitting the prayer.