Praying the 5 prayers is a Fard al-‘ayn (an individual obligation) which is established in the Qur’an and Sunnah explicitly. Allah says in numerous places, “Establish the prayer and pay zakah” in the form of an order which indicates obligation.

Also, in Surat’l-Muddatthir the people of the fire will be asked, “What has led you to Saqr (Hell)?” Their first reply is ‘We were not of those who prayed…” (74:42).

Due to this and a number of other evidences there is not one scholar who will say that missing a prayer is acceptable (unless of course you fall under those who are excused).

As for the person who does not pray, then there is discussion on his status:

– If one does not pray whilst refusing to accept its obligation, then he is considered out of the fold of Islam by scholarly consensus (Ijmaa’).

– As for the one who misses the prayer due to laziness (believing in its obligation), the scholars differ;

1) The Shafi’is, Hanafis and the Malikis hold this as a major sin.

2) Some scholars (from the Hanbali Madhab) hold the one who refrains from praying after it being insisted upon, is a disbeliever taking the sahih hadith of the Prophet (saws) literally ‘Between a person and kufr (disbelief) and Shirk is the leaving of the prayer’.

This last position, though quite hard to swallow, is not the majority opinion or the one I necessary follow, but it’s mentioned to highlight that it is a valid, scholarly opinion.

There are a plethora of evidences supporting both views, but what is clear is that missing ‘any’ prayer past its allotted time is a serious offence.

In addition, an authentic hadith points to its severity as the Prophet (saws) said ‘Whoever misses the ‘Asr prayer, his (good) deeds will be destroyed’ (al-Bukhari). This is more of a threat, but nonetheless indicates it’s severity.

Imagine then, the case of one who does not pray for months or years! Saying this, we should not forget the mercy of