Fatwa ID: 01910

Answered by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Question:

Asalamu alaikum 

Is missing one Salah on purpose worse than murder? Or is the general abandonment of Salah worse than murder (as mentioned by Ibn Qayyim)?

Answer:

Personally, I have not come across the aforementioned statement of Imam Ibn Qayim . However, the upshot of the statement is to show the severity of discarding the salah.

The Prophet of Allah said: “The covenant that stands between us and them is prayer; whoever gives it up is a disbeliever.” (Sunan Nasaai p.81 v.1, Sunan Tirmizi & Musnad Ahmad)

The Zawahir sect have said that a person does become a kafir by missing his or her salah.   However, other scholars have said that the person has committed such an action, which has taken him close to leaving the fold of Islam. 

Imam Malik and Imam Shafee have said it is lawful to kill the person who misses his salah even though the person does not become a kafir.  Imam Abu Hanifah is of the view that the person would not be killed nor will his actions constitute kufr rather he ought to be sent to jail until he starts reading salah.  (Mazaahirul Haqq p.506 v.1)

Only Allah Knows Best

Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham