Weakness of the hadeeth “The bonds of Islam and the foundations of the faith are three…”

It was narrated by Abu Ya‘la
in his Musnad (2349), al-Laalkaa’i in Sharh I‘tiqaad Ahl as-Sunnah
(1576), Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in al-Istidhkaar (2/154) via Mu’ammil ibn
Ismaa‘eel: Hammaad ibn Zayd told us: ‘Amr ibn Maalik an-Nukri told us,
from Abu’l-Jawza’, from Ibn ‘Abbaas – Hammaad said: I do not know but that
he attributed it to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
– he said: “The bonds of Islam and the foundations of the faith are three,
on which Islam is based; whoever forsakes one of them becomes a
disbeliever thereby whose blood may be shed. (They are) the testimony that
there is no God but Allah, the prescribed prayer, and fasting in
Ramadan.” 

This is a da‘eef (weak) hadeeth;
there are several problems with it: 

Firstly: Mu’ammil ibn Isma‘eel
has a poor memory. Abu Haatim said: He is sadooq and strictly adheres to the
Sunnah, but makes many mistakes. Al-Bukhaari said: his hadeeth is to be
rejected. Abu Zar‘ah said: there are many mistakes in his hadeeth.

Mizaan al-I‘tidaal
(4/228) 

Secondly: it is mawqoof.
Someone who is more trustworthy disagreed with it and ended the isnaad with
Ibn ‘Abbaas. 

Ibn Rajab said: 

It was narrated by Qutaybah
from Hammaad ibn Zayd, who narrated it as a mawqoof hadeeth, and left it
incomplete and cut it short. 

It was also narrated by Sa‘eed
ibn Zayd – the brother of Hammaad – from ‘Amr ibn Maalik in a marfoo‘ report
(i.e., attributed to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him)). 

The more correct view is that
it is mawqoof and the isnaad ends with Ibn ‘Abbaas. 

End quote from Fath al-Baari
(1/23-24) 

Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah
have mercy on him) said: 

It is most likely that this
hadith, if it has a basis that was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas, is mawqoof and
the isnaad ends with him. Hammaad ibn Zayd was hesitant about attributing it
to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Yes, S ‘eed ibn
Zayd, the brother of Hammaad, confirmed that it is to be attributed to the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), but this Sa‘eed cannot
be taken as an authority, as as-Sa‘di said. An-Nasaa’i and others said: He
is not qawiy (strong).

End quote from Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth
ad-Da‘eefah (1/212). 

Thirdly: ‘Amr ibn Maalik an-Nukri
was not regarded as trustworthy by anyone except Ibn Hibbaan. He is one of
the unknown narrators, because Ibn Hibbaan (may Allah have mercy on him) was
lenient in regarding narrators as trustworthy, but despite that he said in
his biography of him: His hadeeth, other than those narrated from him by his
son, are regarded as containing errors and being odd.

See: at-Tahdheeb (8/96) 

Therefore this hadeeth is
da‘eef and is not saheeh in any report, whether it is attributed to the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) or otherwise. It was
classed as da‘eef by al-Albaani in ad-Da‘eefah (94). 

Even if we were to assume that
it is proven, it is to be understood – with regard to things other than the
prayer – as being a stern warning and that the disbelief mentioned is a
lesser kind of disbelief (minor kufr), or it is to be understood as
referring to the one who thinks it is permissible not to do these things. 

Ibn Rajab said:

Ibn ‘Abbaas regarded forsaking
these pillars of Islam as constituting disbelief, but in some cases it is
disbelief that makes shedding blood permissible, and in other cases it is
not. This indicates that in some cases disbelief puts one beyond the pale of
Islam, and in other cases it does not. 

Most of the scholars of hadeeth
are of the view that abandoning prayer constitutes disbelief, unlike other
pillars of Islam. This was narrated from them by Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi
and others.

End quote from Fath al-Baari
(1/25) 

Al-Mannaawi (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:

This hadeeth is more akin to a
warning and highlights the seriousness of the matter, or may be understood
as referring to the one who regards it as permissible to abandon these
pillars.

End quote from Fayd al-Qadeer
(4/311) 

Secondly: 

It was narrated by Imam Ahmad
(25121), Abu Ya‘la (4566), and al-Haakim (49) from ‘Aa’ishah that the
Messenger of Allah (blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There
are three things I swear to: Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, does
not regard one who has a share in Islam like one who does not have a share.
The shares of Islam are three: prayer, fasting and zakaah. Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, does not take care of anyone in this world then
abandon him to someone else on the Day of Resurrection. And no man loves
people but Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will join him to them.
And there is a fourth thing – if I swear to it, I hope that I will not be
sinning: Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, does not conceal a person’s
faults in this world but He will also conceal his faults on the Day of
Resurrection.” 

It was classed as saheeh by al-Haakim.
Al-Haythami said:

It was narrated by Ahmad and
its men are thiqaat (trustworthy). It was also narrated by Abu Ya‘la.

End quote from Majma‘
az-Zawaa’id (1/37) 

Al-Busayri said in Ithaaf
al-Kheerah (1/102): Its isnad is jayyid 

It was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani
in as-Saheehah (1387) 

This is the correct view. As
for the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas, it is da‘eef and is not saheeh as either a
marfoo‘ report or a mawqoof report, as stated above, so it cannot be quoted
as evidence. 

See also the answer to question
no. 9400 and 106481

And Allah knows best.