I would like to ask what we should do if my brother does not pray, so
he is regarded as a kaafir according to sharee'ah; can we eat meat
that is slaughtered by him or not?.
Praise be to Allaah.
What you have to do is to advise your brother topray regularly, and
tell him of the ruling of Allaah concerning one who does not pray. Do
not let him slaughter themeat for you himself, and tell him the reason
why, which is that the one who does not pray is regarded as a kaafir,
so meat slaughtered by him is not halaal. Perhaps knowing the ruling
will have an effecton him, and he will come back to his religion and
start to prayregularly. This will be better for him in his religious
and worldly affairs, in this world and in the Hereafter.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:
Is it permissible to eat meat slaughtered by onewho deliberately does
not pray, knowing that if he is told of that he will claim that he
says the Shahaadah? What should we do if we cannot find any butcher
who does pray?
He replied:
If a person does not pray, we should not eat meat slaughtered by him.
This is the correct view, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "Between a man and shirk and kufr there
stands his giving up prayer." Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh from
Jaabir ibn 'Abd-Allaah al-Ansaari (may Allaah be pleased with him).
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The
covenant that stands between us and them is prayer; whoever does not
pray is a kaafir." Narrated by Imam Ahmad and the four authors of
Sunan with a saheeh isnaad from Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (may Allaah be
pleased with him). And he said: "The head of the matter is Islam and
its pillar is prayer." Narrated by Imam Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi with a
saheeh isnaad from Mu'aadh ibn Jabal (may Allaah be pleased with him).
If the pillar of a thing falls, it cannot stand straight or
remain;when the pillar falls, whatever rests on it falls too.
Thus it is known that theone who does not pray has no religion, so
meat slaughtered by him cannot be eaten. If you are living in a land
where there are no Muslim butchers, you should laughter your own meat
and use your hands to do something that will be benefit to you, or
look for a Muslimbutcher to slaughter meat for you even in his own
house. Praise be to Allaah, this is something easy so you should not
be heedless about this matter.
You should advise this man to fear Allaah and pray. His suggestion
thatthe Shahaadatayn is sufficient is a serious mistake, because the
Shahaadatayn come with conditions that must be fulfilled, as the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "I have been
ordered to fight the people until they bear witness that there is no
god except Allaah and that I am the Messenger of Allaah, andestablish
regular prayer and pay zakaah. If they do that, then their bloodand
wealth are safe from me, except in cases dictated by Islamic law, and
their reckoning will be with Allaah." Saheeh – agreed upon.
So prayer and zakaah are mentioned alongside the Shahaadatayn.
According to another version: "I have been commanded to fight the
people until they say Laailaaha ill-Allaah, and if they say Laa ilaaha
ill-Allaah, then their blood and wealth are safe from me, except in
cases dictated by Islamic law, and their reckoningwill be with
Allaah." Prayer is one of these conditions and zakaah isone of these
conditions.
What the believer must do is fear Allaah, and everyone who claims to
be a Muslim must fear Allaah and offer the five prayers regularly, for
prayer is the foundation of Islam and it is the greatest of the five
pillars of Islam after the Shahaadatayn. Whoever neglects it neglects
his religious commitment, and whoever does not pray has left the
faith. We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound.
This is the truth and this is what is correct. Some of the scholars
said that such a person is not a kaafir in the sense of major kufr,
rather his kufr is minor kufr, and he is a sinner who has committed a
grave sin, one that is worse than adultery, worse than stealing, worse
than drinking alcohol. But he is not a kaafir in the sense of major
kufr unless he denies that prayer is obligatory. Thisis the view of a
number of scholars. But the correct view is that which is indicated by
thewords of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
which is that such a person is a kaafir in the sense of major kufr, as
stated in the ahaadeeth quoted above, because he has neglected the
pillar or foundation of Islam which is prayer.
We should not take this matter lightly. 'Abd-Allaah ibn Shaqeeq
al-'Aqeeli, the great Taabi'i (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
"Thecompanions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) did not regard the omission of anything as being kufr, except in
the case of prayer."
And he mentioned that the Sahaabah were unanimously agreed that the
one who did not pray was a kaafir in their view. We ask Allaahto keep
us safe and sound.
So we must be careful, and adhere to this important obligation and not
take the matter lightly if someone does not pray. We should not eat
meat slaughtered by him, or invite him to anyfeasts, or accept his
invitations. Rather he should be shunned until he repents to Allaah
and starts to pray. We ask Allaah to guide us all. End quote.
Majmoo' Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 10/274-276
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