A sister says: A cousin of mine has proposed to me for marriage, and among his characteristics is that he does not attend Friday prayer or the congregational prayer, and he is not committed to the Sunnah.

The questioner: His EminenceThe Shaykh- May Allah preserve you - The question states: The sister asks, saying: A cousin of mine has proposed to me for marriage, and these are some of his characteristics: he does not attend Friday prayer or the congregational prayer, and he is not committed to the Sunnah. I am confused about my situation; should I marry him or not? I think that if I marry him, he will influence me negatively; so I ask for guidance for me and those like me. Is it permissible to marry a man like this? May Allah preserve you.

The Shaykh : This is a strange and unusual question, but one must answer it, even if briefly: This man, described with these characteristics, who does not pray Friday prayer or the congregational prayer, is at best an open sinner, and not a suitable match for this woman, who appears to be among the committed believers. This is his best case; his worst case is that he is a disbeliever who has apostatized from his religion, because he does not pray Friday prayer or the congregational prayer. However, this woman is entirely wrong when she thinks she can hold on to... the nonexistent, and does not look at the sad reality. I think she can influence this man, whom we said is at least an open sinner, by relying on her personality and the strength of her knowledge. Naturally, we do not know the extent of her knowledge, and although her question indicates to us that she is among the women who have no knowledge; for if she had some knowledge, she would not have asked such a question, and she knows the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .
This is an address to the guardians to choose a righteous husband, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in another hadith: . If the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commands the guardians to choose a righteous husband for the one under their authority, for his daughter, his sister's daughter, or the like, and on the other hand encourages men that their motive for choosing a woman should be that she is a religious woman, knowing that we all know what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has instilled in men, and preferred them thereby over women when He said: . This questioner reverses the system of the Shari'ah on one hand and the system of natural reality on the other, because the man, even if he is an open sinner, is the one who has authority over the woman, and the woman is not the one who has authority over the man, even if she is righteous. Therefore, I rule, by deduction from the aforementioned evidence, that this woman and her like, who are many, unfortunately, and we have often heard news of the marriage of the righteous woman to the wicked young man, on the assumption that she will influence him, and then the outcome was worse than she imagined; sometimes he influenced her and led her astray from her straight path; she used to observe hijab, so he made her not observe hijab; she used to pray the five daily prayers, so he made her not maintain them at least as she did before; or if she remains firm in her religion - and this is not... - that she separates from him and he separates from her. Therefore, we advise, as we advise men to marry righteous women, as you heard in the aforementioned hadiths; it is even more necessary that we advise women and say to them: Beware, then beware, of marrying the open sinner; let alone the man who may be said to be a disbeliever. And it is the norm that this weak woman cannot correct the strong man, especially if he is an open sinner and a transgressor.
Yes.