Answered by Shaykh Yūsuf Badāt
Question:
If my sister brought food to my room while I thought she would call me downstairs to eat with the family, and I said to her that I thought she would call me down to which she responded that if I want to come down, she can instead bring it down. Thereafter I said, “Well you have brought it up now so leave it with me.” After saying this, I had a fear if I committed kufr because I disrespected the sunnah of eating together.
Answer:
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Jazāk Allāh Khayr/ Thank you for contacting Mathabah Institute.
In the described situation, there is no kufr (disbelief). Following the sunnah (prophetic practice) of eating together is definitely virtuous and rewarding however, declining to do it [due to laziness] does not take one out of the fold of Islam. The author of the well-known creed manual, Al-Aqīdah Al-Ṭaḥāwīyyah, writes, “One does not get out of faith except by religiously rejecting what enters one into it.” – (See: Al-Ta’līqāt Al-Aqīdah Al-Ṭaḥāwīyyah, Page 144[1])
Only Allāh knows best.
[1] ولا يخرج العبد من الإيمان إلا بجحود ما أدخله فيه – كتاب التعليقات المختصرة على متن العقيدة الطحاوية ص ١٤٤ دار العاصمة
