The ruling on a woman remaining with her husband who abandons the prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
There is a man whose wife does not pray at all, and he wants to divorce her, but he is hesitating. Should he divorce her or keep her under his roof, knowing that she openly displays this?
Answer:
This is a great trial. It is not permissible for him to remain with her. He may separate from her. If she does not pray, she has committed disbelief by this abandonment, according to the most correct opinion of the scholars. Even if she does not deny its obligation, in most cases, one who is negligent about it does not care about its obligation. If he had a firm belief in its obligation, he would not be negligent about it. In any case, abandoning the prayer is a clear disbelief among men and women, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith: in the authentic collections. The intended meaning includes both the man and the woman. Therefore, in the other hadith: Sunan Ibn Majah 1079Sahih (Darussalam) So the matter of the prayer is a great matter.
Therefore, it is necessary to establish it, for men and women. Whoever neglects it, his religion is lost. It is not permissible to remain with the woman, rather he must separate from her, unless she hastens to repent. If she repents, there is no harm in him keeping her. Likewise, if a woman’s husband does not pray, she does not remain with him. She goes to him and leaves him. If he persists in abandoning the prayer, she does not remain with him. She does not hasten him from his own self. We ask Allah for well-being and safety.
There is a man whose wife does not pray at all, and he wants to divorce her, but he is hesitating. Should he divorce her or keep her under his roof, knowing that she openly displays this?
Answer:
This is a great trial. It is not permissible for him to remain with her. He may separate from her. If she does not pray, she has committed disbelief by this abandonment, according to the most correct opinion of the scholars. Even if she does not deny its obligation, in most cases, one who is negligent about it does not care about its obligation. If he had a firm belief in its obligation, he would not be negligent about it. In any case, abandoning the prayer is a clear disbelief among men and women, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith:
The authentic hadith: Between the man and disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah) is the abandonment of the prayer. It was narrated by Muslim.
الصحيح بين الرجل وبين الكفر والشرك ترك الصلاة خرجه مسلمThe covenant that distinguishes between us and them is prayer; so whoever leaves it, he has committed Kufr.
الآخر العهد الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاة فمن تركها فقد كفر،Therefore, it is necessary to establish it, for men and women. Whoever neglects it, his religion is lost. It is not permissible to remain with the woman, rather he must separate from her, unless she hastens to repent. If she repents, there is no harm in him keeping her. Likewise, if a woman’s husband does not pray, she does not remain with him. She goes to him and leaves him. If he persists in abandoning the prayer, she does not remain with him. She does not hasten him from his own self. We ask Allah for well-being and safety.
Source
فتاوى الصلاة — islamhouse.com (38:09)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.