The obligation of a woman toward her husband who smokes and does not pray in the mosque

Question:
May Allah reward you and may He reward you with good. The questioner, Umm Nawaf from Makkah, says: Honorable Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan (may Allah preserve him), peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. I hope you will kindly answer my questions. The first is that my husband does not maintain the prayer, does not perform it at its time, and does not pray in the mosque. She says he is not one who abandons it entirely. If I say, “You do not pray,” or ask him, “Have you prayed?”, he says, “I do not pray for you.” I am very afraid that Allah will punish me for living with him and eating from his wealth, and I fear that my worship will not be accepted. Do I bear any sin for his actions? Knowing that he also smokes. I am in constant anxiety with him, questioning myself: Am I right or wrong? I ask for a satisfying answer. May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
May Allah reward you for this zeal. And for your concern for the matters of your religion, and for your concern for your salvation and your husband’s salvation from the anger of Allah. If this husband prays, but he does not pray with the congregation, then he has left an obligatory duty; because congregational prayer is obligatory, so it is not permissible for him to leave it except for a valid religious excuse. So you must advise him to pray with the congregation; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever hears the call to prayer and does not respond, there is no prayer for him except from an excuse.” It was asked: What is the excuse? He said: Fear or illness. This is from the explanation of the narrator. And in the athar (report), there is no prayer for a neighbor of the mosque except in the mosque. A blind man came to seek permission from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to pray in his home because he found hardship in attending the mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: “Do you hear the call to prayer?” He said: Yes. He said: “Respond.” And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to burn down with fire the houses of those who lag behind in congregational prayer. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Preserve them. And Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I have seen us, and none lagged behind it—meaning congregational prayer—except a known hypocrite, whose hypocrisy was known.” So convey these texts to him, perhaps Allah will guide him and expand his chest for maintaining congregational prayer. And do not despair of his guidance.
As for if he delays the prayer from its time, and does not pray it except after the time has passed, then it is not accepted from him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is for the one who forgets, and the one who is overcome by sleep, and it was not his habit to abandon the prayer, but he was overcome by sleep. This one is excused, but he must hasten to pray when his excuse is removed.
As for the one who does it intentionally, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not mention that he makes it up; rather, he specified that for the one who forgets and the one who sleeps. As for the one who does it intentionally, even if he makes it up, it is not accepted from him unless he has repented to Allah the Exalted and Majestic. If he has repented to Allah, regretted, and made it up, it is accepted from him because repentance wipes out what came before it. But if he continues to not pray except after the time, then his prayer is not accepted, and its existence is like its non-existence. In any case, you must be patient, seek reward from Allah, and continue advising this husband to maintain prayer with the congregation. Repeat this to him, perhaps Allah will grant him the blessing of repentance and acceptance of the advice. Do not despair of his guidance, and continue with him. Also, it is a correct statement regarding smoking because it is foul, harmful, and forbidden, because there is no benefit in it, but rather it has many harms. He must leave it in obedience to Allah and to preserve his health and life, because it leads to destruction and leads to many dangers. Also, the one who smokes becomes lazy about acts of obedience and keeps company with the wicked. So there is no good in consuming this foul substance, but rather it contains only ugly and destructive harms. Advise him to leave smoking to preserve his religion, to preserve his body, and to preserve his wealth; because it exhausts wealth without benefit. Yes.