He says that he is married and has three children, and that he is practicing the Islamic religion, if Allah wills, and that his wife is a Muslim and fasts in Ramadan, but she does not pray and does not perform [her duties].

The questioner : He says that he is married and has three children, and that he is practicing the Islamic religion, if Allah wills, and that his wife is a Muslim and fasts in Ramadan, but she does not pray and does not perform [her duties] and does not obey him or submit to performing the prayer. Does he have the right to divorce her according to the Shari'ah if she does not obey him, or not? Please inform us, if you would be so kind?

The Shaykh : If your wife does not pray and abandons the prayer, and is determined to leave off the prayer, then she is a disbeliever, may Allah protect us from that. This is the stronger position among the opinions of the scholars that the one who leaves off the prayer is a disbeliever with a disbelief that takes him out of the religion. Accordingly, she is forbidden to you until she returns to her religion and prays. It is not permissible for you to keep her with you in this state, because her marriage is annulled by her apostasy, unless she repents and returns to the religion of Islam and prays, in which case she will be your wife.

The questioner : His second question is that he says, "I am asking you."