If a person can only read one salah a day does that make him a disbeliever

CategoriesSalaah [867]

Fatwa ID: 01517

Answered by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Question:

If a person can only read one salah a day does that make him a disbeliever?  

Answer:

Bismillah

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.

Kufr is to refute any commandments of Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He), which is absolute and definite, or to have doubt or reservations about it, which has reached us through the medium of the Prophet of Allah Sallallahu Alahi Wasalam.

The condition of absolute and definite has been added, since the laws of Deen have reached us via two ways: one by way of Tawatur and another by way of Khabr Ahaad. Tawatur are those narrations that have reached us via the Prophet of Allah ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him), through a continuous and unbroken chain of narrators. From the time of the Prophet of Allah ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) until the present in every era, some reliable Muslims reported these narrations. Such things are absolute and definite and it is kufr, to reject and refute the validity of salah, zakaat etc. To jeer and degrade the Shariah is also kufr because these things are from the Quran and Ahadith Mutawatir. Aqaaidul Islam p.169 –p.170)

It is advisable that one takes precaution when it comes to doing takfir and calling another Muslim a disbeliever. It is narrated by Saaiduna Abu Hurairah raḍyAllāhu 'anhu (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Prophet of Allah ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) has said, “When a person says to his brother, ‘O disbeliever!’ then disbelief returns to one of the two of them.” (Sahih Bukhari)

Imam Nawawi raḥimahullāh (may Allāh have mercy upon him) has said, “They (scholars) differ as regards the interpretation of this “returning,” So it is said, “kufr returns upon him if he is making that lawful”. And it is said, “It is taken to refer to the Khawarij,” since they declare believers to be disbelievers.” (Sharh Sahih Muslim p.50 v.2)

With regards to your question, when a person said I can only read one salah a day that statement would not make him a disbeliever. He is showing his incapability of praying five times a day. Unless he denies or ridicules the obligation of salah we will refrain from calling him a disbeliever. When this is the case there is no need for him to repeat his shahadah. However, he may wish to do so out of precaution.

Only Allah Knows Best

Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham.

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