Muslim commits unbelief by abandoning prayer altogether

12-1-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

Al salam alaikum, I was staying up late one night and out of laziness and sleepiness, I did not pray Fajr because I needed to make ghusl and I was very tired, so I slept. There were also instances where I made tayammum instead of ghusl out of laziness. I have repented alhamdulilah but the matter is complicated because I was engaged at the time and I had heard that leaving even one prayer is kufr and that kufr before the marriage is consummated means the contract must be repeated if the person repents. I have since then married this woman and consummated the marriage. Do I need to do anything? Jazak Allah Khair

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Some scholars held that the person who deliberately misses one prayer until the end of its due time has actually committed an act of unbelief and thereby is taken out of the fold of Islam. However, the scholarly opinion we adopt in Islamweb is that such an act does not constitute major unbelief; rather, it is minor unbelief. Abandoning prayer totally is considered major disbelief; whoever deliberately misses one or more prayers out of laziness is not declared an unbeliever and accordingly his marriage contract is not declared invalid and is not to be annulled.

We advise you to fear Allaah, The Exalted, in the future and observe the prayer on time. Also, it is incumbent on you to make up for the prayers you missed and those you performed with Tayammum (dry ablution) while you were able to perform Ghusl.

Please refer to Fatwa 91467 about making up for the prayers performed with Tayammum without valid reason, underlining that such prayers are invalid and it is incumbent on the person to make up for them. Also, refer to Fatwa 86527 about the conditions for the validity of sincere repentance.

Allaah Knows best.