Her husband does not pray, so should she seek divorce?
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Fatwa number ( 20612 )
Q: I inform your Eminence that I am a woman who has been married for 21 years, and I have six sons and daughters, and there are many disagreements between me and my husband, the main cause of which is my husband’s failure to perform the five daily prayers regularly, as he prays some of the obligatory prayers and leaves others, and sometimes he prays in the mosque and sometimes he does not pray, neither in the mosque nor at home, especially the Fajr prayer, which he rarely prays, although he consistently prays Jumu'ah. In addition to this, he smokes. I have advised him many times and reminded him of the consequences of abandoning prayer and not being consistent in it, but he has not responded. I hope your Eminence will inform me and advise me: should I stay with him as the situation is as I described, or should I seek divorce? And how do we encourage our children to pray? Since the infection has spread to them, they do not pray except with difficulty and after great insistence from me. Is the responsibility for that on me or on their father? Since I am a woman whose children do not listen to my advice except after much effort, I hope for your guidance, especially as this situation has affected my
mental state, and I have come to suffer from some psychological illnesses.
A1: If your husband is in this state, which is abandoning prayer entirely, even if only sometimes, then it is obligatory for you to seek separation from him; because one who abandons prayer intentionally has committed disbelief; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 82b and a Muslim woman is not permitted to remain with a disbeliever; due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Mumtahanah 60:10] and the responsibility for the children is on both parents; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan ad-Daraqutni 3:5 and success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: I inform your Eminence that I am a woman who has been married for 21 years, and I have six sons and daughters, and there are many disagreements between me and my husband, the main cause of which is my husband’s failure to perform the five daily prayers regularly, as he prays some of the obligatory prayers and leaves others, and sometimes he prays in the mosque and sometimes he does not pray, neither in the mosque nor at home, especially the Fajr prayer, which he rarely prays, although he consistently prays Jumu'ah. In addition to this, he smokes. I have advised him many times and reminded him of the consequences of abandoning prayer and not being consistent in it, but he has not responded. I hope your Eminence will inform me and advise me: should I stay with him as the situation is as I described, or should I seek divorce? And how do we encourage our children to pray? Since the infection has spread to them, they do not pray except with difficulty and after great insistence from me. Is the responsibility for that on me or on their father? Since I am a woman whose children do not listen to my advice except after much effort, I hope for your guidance, especially as this situation has affected my
mental state, and I have come to suffer from some psychological illnesses.
A1: If your husband is in this state, which is abandoning prayer entirely, even if only sometimes, then it is obligatory for you to seek separation from him; because one who abandons prayer intentionally has committed disbelief; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Between man and polytheism and unbelief is the abandonment of salat.
بين الرجل وبين الشرك والكفر ترك الصلاةAnd if you know them to be believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers; they are not lawful [wives] for them, nor are they lawful [husbands] for them
فَإِنْ عَلِمْتُمُوهُنَّ مُؤْمِنَاتٍ فَلا تَرْجِعُوهُنَّ إِلَى الْكُفَّارِ لاَ هُنَّ حِلٌّ لَهُمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحِلُّونَ لَهُنَّOrder your children to pray at the age of seven, hit them for it at the age of ten, and separate them in their beds.
مروا أولادكم بالصلاة لسبع، واضربوهم عليها لعشر، وفرقوا بينهم في المضاجع
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.