What happens if you don't follow all five pillars of Islam?

Answer 1

Missing the time for prayer means leaving the prayer until the time is over and one has not prayed. This is a major sin, unless that is for a legitimate excuse such as sleeping or forgetting.

It says in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 10/8: The fuqaha' are agreed that it is forbidden to delay prayer until the time for prayer is over, without a legitimate excuse.

Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: With regard to the person who deliberately delays the prayer until after the time for it is over, or who sets his alarm clock late so that he will not get up on time, he is deliberately not praying, and he has committed a great evil according to all the scholars, but is this kufr [disbelief] or not?

Here there is a difference of opinion among the scholars:

If he does not deny that prayer is obligatory, then the majority of scholars say that he is not committing major kufr in this case.

Some of the scholars were of the view that this is major kufr which puts him beyond the pale of Islam, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Between a man and shirk [associating others with Allaah] and kufr there stands his giving up prayer." Narrated by Imam Muslim in his Saheeh, 82.

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The covenant that stands between us and them is prayer; whoever gives up prayer is a kaafir [disbeliever]." Narrated by Imam Ahmad and the four authors of al-Sunan with a saheeh isnaad [sound chain of narrators]. And there is other evidence to support this.

It was also narrated from the Sahaabah [companions of the Prophet - may Allaah be pleased with them all].

The great Taabi'i 'Abd-Allaah ibn Shaqeeq al-'Aqeeli said: "The Companions of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not think that omitting anything constituted kufr apart from prayer."

With regard to delaying prayer, this may refer to two things:

1 - Delaying prayer until the time for that prayer is over. We have explained the ruling on this above.

2 - Delaying the prayer until the end of the time for that prayer.

See al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 10/6

It is permissible to offer a prayer at the end of its time, because of the hadeeth narrated by Muslim (614) from Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari, that someone came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and asked him about the times of prayer… and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) explained to him the beginning and end of the time for each prayer, and said, "The time is between these two."

But if delaying the prayer means that one will miss out on praying in congregation and will pray it alone at the end of its time, then it is haraam because it means not praying in congregation, so long as one does not have an excuse for not praying in congregation.

It is better to do the prayer at the beginning of its time, except for 'Isha' prayer and Zuhr prayer when it is very hot; in these cases it is better to do them at the end of their allotted times.

Answer 2

Most Muslims would argue off the bat that a person who defiantly refuses to comply with all of the five pillars has committed apostasy, but there are particulars caveats.

1) Some of the pillars are more important than other. If a person denies the Shahada or declaration of faith (either because they do not believe in one god or reject the idea that Muhammad was a prophet of that God), that is clearly apostasy. However, if a person is unable to perform the Hajj in their lifetime because of costs or because of Saudi limits on migration, this can be countenanced. Shahada (Declaration of Faith) and Salat (Prayer) are more important than Zakat (Almsgiving) and Hajj (Pilgrimage) in weighting whether someone is a Muslim.

2) There is a distinction over whether someone simply does not perform an activity or obstinantely refuses to comply with the pillar. For example, if a person avoids praying five times a day because he is lazy, this is seen as much less of a problem than a person who avoids praying because when someone asked him to pray, he refused.

3) There are different definitions of compliance in different communities. For example, Sunni Muslims place Zakat, generally, at A 2.5% rate and Shiite Muslims place Zakat, generally, at a 10% rate. Both traditions also designate different agencies as being worthy recipients of the Zakat, so an effective payment under one doctrine is insufficient or non-considered under another. Muslims take these differences into consideration.

Answer 3

I imagine you would be considered an apostate from the faith as it is the keeping of the pillars which defines you as a Muslim.

Answer 4

Ignoring any of Islam five pillars intentionally and/or on purpose gets you out of Islam.

Answer 5

Death