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

                I read on this website, in one of your answers, that the one who does not fast Ramadan is still a Muslim.
 
So how do you explain the hadeeth that was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) in which it says: “The foundations of Islam are three: testimony that there is no God but Allah, prayer, and fasting Ramadan. Whoever forsakes one of them has disbelieved.”? Narrated by Abu Ya‘la, al-Haythami, and Imam adh-Dhahabi in Kitaab al-Kabaa’ir.
Praise be to Allah.
      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.