I married my daughter to a righteous man, but after the marriage he started smoking, brought in a television, and became negligent in prayer. What should I do?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. This questioner says: I married my daughter to a committed young man, but after the marriage he changed and started smoking, brought in a television, and began to be negligent in attending the congregation in the mosque.
The Shaykh : There is no power nor strength except by Allah.
The questioner : So what must I do with him?
The Shaykh : The sins of the husband do not necessitate the annulment of his marriage. As long as the man has not reached the level of disbelief, she remains with him. However, he should be advised and shown that this is forbidden, and the benefit of mindfulness of Allah and repentance to Allah the Exalted should be made clear to him, so that perhaps he will repent.
As for if he does not pray at all—if he was committed at first and then stopped praying—then it is obligatory to separate them, and it is not permissible for her to remain with him for even a blink of an eye, because by leaving the prayer he has become what? A disbeliever, an apostate, committing major shirk that takes him out of the religion. It is obligatory to separate him from his wife. If you separate them, it will be said to you: now the choice is yours. As long as she is in the waiting period, if she returns to Islam and prays, we will return her to you. And if she remains in her disbelief, we will not return her to you unless the crow grows white. Unless the crow grows white. Yes, does the crow grow white or not? Yes.
The student: It does not grow white.
The Shaykh : Fine, in any case, the matter is broad. Some people say that if you say that the wife of the one who does not pray is divorced, it means that you have left many people without a wife. We say: who said that? We say: it is annulled for what? So that he prays. This is what will compel him to pray. If he knows that if he leaves the prayer, the marriage is annulled and he is separated from his wife, he will pray. And we welcome him if he returns to Islam. Yes.
The Shaykh : There is no power nor strength except by Allah.
The questioner : So what must I do with him?
The Shaykh : The sins of the husband do not necessitate the annulment of his marriage. As long as the man has not reached the level of disbelief, she remains with him. However, he should be advised and shown that this is forbidden, and the benefit of mindfulness of Allah and repentance to Allah the Exalted should be made clear to him, so that perhaps he will repent.
As for if he does not pray at all—if he was committed at first and then stopped praying—then it is obligatory to separate them, and it is not permissible for her to remain with him for even a blink of an eye, because by leaving the prayer he has become what? A disbeliever, an apostate, committing major shirk that takes him out of the religion. It is obligatory to separate him from his wife. If you separate them, it will be said to you: now the choice is yours. As long as she is in the waiting period, if she returns to Islam and prays, we will return her to you. And if she remains in her disbelief, we will not return her to you unless the crow grows white. Unless the crow grows white. Yes, does the crow grow white or not? Yes.
The student: It does not grow white.
The Shaykh : Fine, in any case, the matter is broad. Some people say that if you say that the wife of the one who does not pray is divorced, it means that you have left many people without a wife. We say: who said that? We say: it is annulled for what? So that he prays. This is what will compel him to pray. If he knows that if he leaves the prayer, the marriage is annulled and he is separated from his wife, he will pray. And we welcome him if he returns to Islam. Yes.