13—Hadith 333

I had previously mentioned three routes for it through Thawr ibn Yazid, from Khalid ibn Maʿdan, from Abu Hurayrah.

I then found a fourth route for it: ʿIsa ibn Yunus—son of Abu Ishaq al-Sabiʿi—narrated it through Thawr ibn Yazid, with the same chain.

It was recorded by Ibn al-Sunni in The Deeds of the Day and Night (56/157), through Sulayman ibn Umar ibn Khalid; and by al-Tabarani in Musnad al-Shamiyyin (1/241), no. 429, through Amr ibn Khalid al-Harrani. Both said: ʿIsa ibn Yunus narrated to us through the same chain.

This is an authentic chain of transmission.

Note: After mentioning faith in Allah, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, went on to mention several elements of Islam, such as prayer and zakah, and said:

“Whoever abandons any one of these has abandoned a portion of Islam; and whoever abandons them all has turned his back on Islam.”

I say: This is an explicit text establishing that a Muslim does not leave Islam by abandoning one of its components, including the prayer. The one who abandons it is merely a flagrant sinner, whose testimony is not accepted and for whom a bad end is feared. A detailed discussion of the ruling on one who abandons the prayer has preceded under Hadith 87. This is among the decisive proofs for what we have stated. Therefore, some people sought to evade its implication by trying to declare it weak—but far from it! We refuted him with evidence and proof, and showed which scholars of Islam declared it authentic. Refer to it.