Can we eat meat slaughtered by one who does not pray?

 

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 to pray
regularly, and tell him of the ruling of Allaah concerning one who does not
pray. Do not let him slaughter the meat 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 effect on him, and he will come back to his religion and start to
pray regularly. 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 one who
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 the one 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 Muslim butcher 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 that the 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, and establish regular prayer
and pay zakaah. If they do that, then their blood and 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 Laa ilaaha 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 reckoning will be with Allaah.” Prayer is
one of these conditions and zakaah is one 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. This is the view of a number of
scholars. But the correct view is that which is indicated by the words 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:
“The companions 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 Allaah to 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 any feasts, 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 

See also the answer to question no.
1553 

And Allaah knows best.