Is The Death Penalty Proscribed In The West For A Muslim Who Abandons The Prayer?

Question:
Is there death penalty forthose Muslims who don'tpray in the other
three schools of thought and lifetime imprisonment inthe Hanafi school
of thought? How are we supposed to follow this living in the West?
What if we had an Islamic state, could we have sentenced the Muslims
who neglect their prayers to death?
Answer:
The Islamic state would apply the punishments you mentioned only in
thecase of legally-qualified sane Muslims who unequivocally refuse to
pray and consider themselves free of any such obligation, or
unequivocally express denial of any indisputably obligatory belief
(such as belief in the Qur�an) or ruling (such as the prohibition of
intoxicants),whereupon the status of apostasy (ridda) becomes
applicable to them, otherwise �only� the status of immorality (fisq),
such as a person who doesnot pray but still knows that it is
obligatory and that they one is guilty of sin in not doing so. The
precondition for sentencing is absolute certainty, which spells mercy
on the basis of the rule laid by the Prophet, upon him blessings and
peace: �Ward off the penalties (hudud) as much as you can�(*), as Ibn
Majah titled it: �through ambiguities.� Our Mother `A�isha said, �It
is preferable for the ruler to pardon mistak�enly than to punish
mistakenly.�
In an immoral society, we are supposed to rush after the immense
reward of holding fast to the priceless jewel of Religion - thank you,
our Lord, for guiding us! - because the Believer there is as the
living among the dead. If we cannot, then we must find a way out of
that society and move elsewhere for dear life, just as our Lord told
us that we shall be asked, �Was not Allah�s earth wide enough for
you?� A few bows and prostrationsand then we die and eternity begins.
Eternity. Does it compute for you toleave prayer and then losethat?
May Allah bring us out of our heedlessness and open our eyes to the
basic common sense of never abandoning prayer, which is our first and
last protection from disaster.
(*) Narrated from al-Tirmidhi and Abu Hurayra by Ibn Majah.