Short answer
Yes. Deliberately leaving a fard prayer until its time ends is one of the gravest major sins. In the Hanafi school it does not make a Muslim a disbeliever unless he denies that prayer is obligatory or mocks it. The Hanbali school holds that abandoning prayer altogether is disbelief.
Leaving a fard prayer without an excuse is a major sin (kabirah) that needs sincere repentance and a make-up (qada) prayer. Someone who leaves it from laziness while believing it is obligatory is a sinner (fasiq), not an apostate. Denying that it is obligatory is kufr.
Other madhhabs
- Hanbali
- Someone who abandons the prayer out of laziness, after being called to it, is a disbeliever; this is the relied-upon Hanbali position.
- Shafi'i
- Agrees he is not a disbeliever if he believes prayer is obligatory, but treats it as among the gravest of crimes.
Explanation
Salah is the second pillar of Islam and the first deed a person is asked about on the Day of Judgement. The Prophet ﷺ described leaving it as what stands between a person and disbelief. The Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi'i scholars understood these hadith as a severe warning, or as referring to someone who rejects prayer, while the Hanbali school took them literally for someone who abandons it completely.
Missing a prayer is not all the same:
- Slept through it or forgot, without carelessness: no sin. Pray it when you wake or remember.
- Left it on purpose, or let the time pass out of laziness: a major sin. Repent and make it up.
- Denied it is obligatory or mocked it: this takes a person out of Islam.
Can you go to Jannah without praying? In Sunni belief a Muslim who dies with faith will not stay in Hell forever, but neglecting prayer puts a person at real risk of punishment, and the Quran describes people in Hell saying "we were not of those who prayed". Nobody should gamble with that. Equally, nobody should despair: Allah forgives anyone who turns back to Him.
If you have missed prayers, start praying today and make up the rest steadily. See making up years of missed prayers, the qada calculator and does Allah forgive all sins.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Maryam 19:59
۞ فَخَلَفَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضَاعُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلشَّهَوَٰتِ ۖ فَسَوْفَ يَلْقَوْنَ غَيًّا ﴿٥٩﴾
But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil -
Neglecting prayer is condemned and leads to punishment.
Quran, Surah Al-Muddaththir 74:42-43
مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِى سَقَرَ ﴿٤٢﴾ قَالُوا۟ لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ ٱلْمُصَلِّينَ ﴿٤٣﴾
[And asking them], "What put you into Saqar?" They will say, "We were not of those who prayed,
Not praying is named as a cause of entering Hell.
Sahih Muslim 82
Sahih... إن بين الرجل وبين الشرك والكفر ترك الصلاة ...
"Between a man and shirk and disbelief is the abandoning of prayer."
A severe warning about leaving prayer.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2621
Grading to be checked... العهد الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاة فمن تركها فقد كفر ...
"The covenant between us and them is the prayer, so whoever leaves it has disbelieved."
The hadith the Hanbali school takes literally.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Opening of Kitab al-Salah. One who leaves prayer out of laziness is a sinner, not a disbeliever; one who denies it is a disbeliever.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Chapter on the ruling of one who abandons prayer. Sets out the Hanbali view that complete abandonment is disbelief.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.