I say, and with Allah's guidance: The one who abandons prayer is in two situations: The first: If the abandonment of prayer is due to denial, then he is a disbeliever; because its obligation is established by conclusive evidence. The second: If the abandonment of prayer is deliberate, frivolous, and lazy, then he is a sinner, and he should be detained until he prays; because he is detained for the right of the servant, and the right of Allah is more deserving, as mentioned in Tanweer al-Absar and Al-Durr al-Mukhtar 1: 235, and this is according to the Hanafi school. The Malikis and Shafi'is hold that whoever abandons prayer out of negligence and laziness, not denial, should be killed as a punishment, meaning that his ruling after death is that of a Muslim; he should be washed, prayed over, and buried with Muslims; based on the Prophet's  saying: "I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and establish prayer" in Sahih al-Bukhari 1: 153, and Sahih Muslim 1: 52; and because Allah commanded the killing of polytheists. The Hanbalis believe that the one who abandons prayer out of laziness should be called to perform it and told: If you pray, we will not kill you; if he prays, then well and good, but if he does not, he must be killed. He should not be killed until he is detained for three days and called at the time of each prayer; if he prays, then well and good, but if he does not, he should be killed as a punishment, and it is said as an act of disbelief: meaning he should not be washed, nor prayed over, nor buried in the graves of Muslims, as stated in the Kuwaiti Fiqh Encyclopedia 27: 54-55, Sharh Manhaj al-Tullab 2: 132, Al-Um 1: 291, Al-Mughni 2: 158, and Mawahib Khalil 1: 411. This is if the sword is placed over him and he does not stand for prayer, which indicates that he is indeed a denier if he reaches this level. This indicates that the abandonment of prayer is not considered disbelief by consensus among the four jurisprudential schools. Among the evidence for this: 1. From Ubadah , he said that the Prophet  said: "Five prayers have been made obligatory by Allah upon His servants, and whoever comes with them, having completed them and not belittled them out of contempt for their rights, will have a covenant with Allah to enter Paradise; and whoever comes with them, having belittled them out of contempt for their rights, will not have a covenant with Allah; if He wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will have mercy on him" in Sahih Ibn Hibban 5: 23, and the selected hadiths 8: 365, and Sunan Abu Dawood 2: 62, and Sunan al-Nasa'i al-Kubra 1: 142, and Al-Mujtaba 1: 230, and Sunan Ibn Majah 1: 449, and Al-Muwatta 1: 123. In one narration: "Whoever meets Him with them, having not neglected anything from them, will have a covenant with Him to enter him into Paradise; and whoever meets Him having belittled anything from them out of contempt for their rights, will meet Him without a covenant; if He wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will forgive him" in Musnad Ahmad 5: 322, and Mushkil al-Athar 4: 194. 2. From Ka'b ibn 'Ajrah al-Ansari , he said: "The Messenger of Allah  came out to us while we were in the mosque, seven of us, three from our Arabs and four from our freedmen, and he said: What is keeping you here? We said: Prayer. He said: He poked his finger in the ground, then lowered it for a while, then raised his head to us and said: Do you know what your Lord says? We said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: He says: Whoever prays the prayer at its time and establishes its limits will have a covenant with Allah that He will admit him to Paradise; and whoever does not establish the prayer at its time and does not establish its limits will not have a covenant with Me; if I will, I will admit him to Hell, and if I will, I will admit him to Paradise" in Mushkil al-Athar 4: 200, and Sunan al-Darimi 1: 303, and Musnad Abd ibn Hamid 1: 145. Al-Tahawi said in Mushkil al-Athar 4: 201: "In both of his hadiths: And if He wills, He will admit him to Paradise, which indicates that this does not take him out of Islam, making him an apostate or a polytheist; because Allah  does not admit into Paradise anyone who associates partners with Him; as He said: {Whoever associates partners with Allah, Allah has forbidden him Paradise} [Al-Ma'idah: 72], and He does not forgive him; as He said: {Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills} [An-Nisa: 48]." 3. This statement is more appropriate by analogy; because Allah's obligations upon His servants are at specific times, including the five prayers, and the fasting of the month of Ramadan. Whoever intentionally abandons fasting in the month of Ramadan without denying its obligation is not considered a disbeliever, nor an apostate from Islam; so the same applies to the one who abandons prayer until its time passes, unless he denies it, he is not considered an apostate, nor is he out of Islam, as stated in Mushkil al-Athar 4: 206. The jurists do not take the apparent meaning of the hadith of Jabir , where he said that the Prophet  said: "Indeed, between a man and polytheism and disbelief is the abandonment of prayer" in Sahih Muslim 1: 88, and Sunan al-Tirmidhi 5: 13, and in one narration: "There is nothing between the servant and disbelief except the abandonment of prayer" in Musnad Abu Awana 1: 63, and Musnad al-Shihab 1: 181; because it has multiple interpretations that they have carried it upon, including: 1. That it is understood as exaggeration and magnification of the status of prayer; Al-Laknawi said in Naf' al-Mufti p. 177: "And the hadiths indicating the disbelief of the one who abandons prayer are understood as a warning and reproach." 2. That it is understood in the linguistic sense of disbelief; Al-Tahawi said: "The disbelief mentioned in this hadith is not the disbelief in Allah, but rather it is, according to the linguists, that it covers the faith of the one who abandons prayer and obscures it until it becomes predominant over him, covering it. Among this is Allah's saying: {The example of the rain is that it delights the farmers} [Al-Hadid: 20], meaning the farmers who cover what they plant in the earth, not the disbelievers in Allah . Among this is what has been narrated from the Prophet  in the hadith of the solar eclipse: "And I was shown the Fire, and I saw that most of its inhabitants were women. They said: Why, O Messenger of Allah? He said: Because of their disbelief. They said: Do they disbelieve in Allah ? He said: They disbelieve in their husbands and disbelieve in kindness; if you do good to one of them for a lifetime, then she sees something from you, she says: I have never seen any good from you" in Sahih Muslim 2: 626, and Sahih al-Bukhari 1: 357. He named what they do to cover kindness as disbelief. Among this is what has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah  from his saying: "The insult of a Muslim is wickedness, and fighting him is disbelief" in Sahih Muslim 1: 61, and Sahih al-Bukhari 1: 27; and this was not about disbelief in Allah , but rather it was about what he has committed that covers his faith with his vile actions... And Allah knows best until these narrations are authentic and do not differ." And Allah knows best.