there may be forms of disbelief that do not preclude forgiveness or eligibility for intercession, as with Muslims who commit certain sins which the Lawgiver has termed disbelief. Thus, there is no need for the strained interpretations into whose narrow confines people have fallen.”

He has indeed spoken truly—may Allah have mercy on him. Yet his view that the designation “disbeliever” may be applied to one who abandons the prayer is, in my view, an unwarranted extension. For the hadiths to which he alluded do not contain the unrestricted usage he claims; rather, they merely state, “He has committed disbelief.” I do not think anyone would consider it permissible to derive from this the noun “disbeliever” and apply it to him. Otherwise, he would also have to apply it to everyone of whom it is said, “He has committed disbelief,” such as one who swears by other than Allah, fights a Muslim, disavows his lineage, and the like of what is mentioned in the hadiths.

Yes—were the report related by Abu Ya‘la and others from Ibn ‘Abbas, attributed to the Prophet, authentic, with the wording:

“The bonds of Islam and the foundations of religion are three, upon which Islam is established. Whoever abandons any one of them is thereby a disbeliever whose blood may lawfully be shed: testifying that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, the prescribed prayer, and fasting Ramadan.”

I say: had this been authentic, it would have been clear evidence for the permissibility of applying that designation to one who abandons the prayer. But it is not authentic, as I explained in al-Silsilah al-Da‘ifah (The Weak Hadith Series), no. 94.

In sum, mere abandonment cannot be proof for declaring a Muslim a disbeliever. Rather, he is a flagrant sinner, and his affair rests with Allah: if He wills, He punishes him; and if He wills, He forgives him. The hadith under discussion is an unequivocal text on this matter, which no Muslim can afford to reject.

But one who is called to prayer, threatened with execution should he fail to respond, and then executed, is certainly a disbeliever whose blood may lawfully be shed. No funeral prayer is offered for him, nor is he buried in the Muslim cemeteries. Thus, whoever makes an unqualified declaration