What is the ruling on a divorced woman returning to her husband who does not pray?

The questioner : I am a woman from a solid family. I married a man, but I found that he does not pray, does not stand in prayer, and does not recite the Qur'an, may Allah guide him, and he does other things that are not permissible in Islam. I asked for a divorce from him, and it has now been several years since I was divorced. However, I love my first husband and think about him. Is this forbidden? I also wish to marry, but no man of good character has proposed to me. I am a young woman in the prime of my life, watching the passing of time with a desire to marry. Is it permissible for me to return to my first husband if he asks for it?

The Shaykh : I say to this woman: May Allah bless her, bless her, and make easy for her a husband who fulfills her desire. As for her first husband, if he remains in his original state, not praying and drinking intoxicants, may Allah protect us from that, then she is not lawful for him. The one who does not pray is a disbeliever who has exited Islam. If his wife were with him, it would be obligatory to separate them, because she is not lawful for him, for a Muslim woman is not lawful for a disbeliever. The person who does not pray—and I mean does not pray at all, not that he does not pray in congregation—his wife has the right to divorce him, because he is a disbeliever and she is a Muslim. So if the first husband remains in his state, it is not permissible for her to return to him under any circumstances. Let her be patient and wait for relief from Allah, for Allah says: . And if this applies to men, it applies to women as well. Let her be chaste and patient, and Allah will make easy for her, by His power and might, the one she desires.