Abandoning prayer invalidates the marriage contract

Question:
What is the ruling on one who abandons prayer? Because I heard in the program *Nur 'ala al-Darb* from one of the shaykhs that if a Muslim contracts a marriage with a Muslim girl who does not pray, the contract is invalid, even if she prays after the marriage. In our village, (50%) do not pray before marriage. We ask for clarification?

Answer:
The Book and the Sunnah have indicated that prayer is the most important and greatest act of worship after the two testimonies, and that it is the pillar of Islam, and that it is obligatory for all accountable Muslims to preserve it and establish it as Allah the Exalted has prescribed. He, the Exalted, said: [al-Baqarah: 238], and He, the Exalted, said: [al-Tawbah: 5], and He, the Exalted, said: [al-Baqarah: 43]. This indicates that one who does not pray is not left alone, but is fought. And He, the Exalted, said: [al-Tawbah: 11], which indicates that one who does not pray is not a brother in religion. The verses in this meaning are very numerous.
It is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , and it is authentic from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , narrated by Imam Ahmad and the people of the Sunan with a sound chain, from Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (may Allah be pleased with him), and Muslim narrated in his *Sahih* from Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: .
The expression "the man" does not exclude the woman, for if the ruling is established for the man, it is so for the woman as well, and likewise, what is established for the woman is established for the man, except by evidence that specifies one of them. So these hadiths and what came in their meaning all indicate that one who abandons prayer becomes a disbeliever, among men and women, after reaching the age of accountability. It is also established in the authentic hadith that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about the rulers who do not establish the religion as it should be, "Do we fight them?" he said: , and in another wording: , which indicates that one who does not establish prayer has committed open disbelief.
The scholars have differed on this issue. Some said: The hadiths regarding the declaration of disbelief of one who abandons prayer are intended as a deterrent and warning, and it is a disbelief less than major disbelief. This is the view of the majority of jurists. A group of scholars held that abandoning it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), based on the apparent meaning of the authentic hadiths from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), including his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
Disbelief, when known by the definite article (al), and likewise shirk (associating partners with Allah), refers to major disbelief and major shirk. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , which indicates that the intended meaning is major disbelief; because he (peace and blessings be upon him) applied it to a clear matter, which is the matter of prayer, and it is the pillar of Islam. So it is not strange that abandoning it is major disbelief. For this reason, 'Abdullah ibn Shaqiq al-'Uqayli, the great Tabi'i, mentioned from the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that "they did not consider anything abandoned to be disbelief except prayer." This indicates that abandoning it is major disbelief by the consensus of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them); because there are things they knew to be disbelief, but it is a disbelief less than major, such as disavowing kinship, and such as fighting between believers; for his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , this is a disbelief less than major if one does not consider it permissible. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , all of this is a disbelief less than major according to the scholars, because it came as an indefinite noun, not made definite by al.
Other evidence came indicating that the intended meaning is other than major disbelief, unlike prayer, for its matter is great, and it is the greatest thing after the two testimonies, and the pillar of Islam. The Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) clarified its ruling when He prescribed fighting the disbelievers, saying: [al-Tawbah: 5], and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , which indicates that one who does not pray is killed, and is not left alone if he does not repent.
The summary is that the correct opinion, which the evidence requires, is: that abandoning prayer is major disbelief, even if one does not deny its obligation, even if the majority say otherwise. For the criterion is the evidence, and the criterion is not the number of people saying it. So the ruling is tied to the evidence, and preference is made by the evidence. And the evidence has been established that the abandonment of prayer is major disbelief.
As for his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , it is explained by his saying in the other hadith: , agreed upon for its authenticity from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both). So there is no protection except by establishing prayer, and because one who does not establish prayer has not fulfilled the right of "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah).
If a person testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and prays, fasts, and worships, then denies the prohibition of zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) and says: "Zina is lawful," he disbelieves according to everyone. Or if he says: "Intoxicants are lawful," or "Sodomy is lawful," or urinates on the mushaf (written copy of the Qur'an) intentionally in contempt of it, he disbelieves, and the testimony does not protect him, or similar to that, from what is considered a nullifier of the nullifiers of Islam, as the scholars clarified in the chapter on the ruling of the apostate, in every school of the four schools of jurisprudence.
By this, it is known that the Muslim who prays and does not have what necessitates his disbelief, if he marries a woman who does not pray, then the marriage is invalid, and likewise the reverse; because it is not permissible for a Muslim to marry a disbelieving woman from other than the People of the Book, just as it is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a disbeliever; for the saying of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in Surat al-Mumtahanah regarding the marriage of disbelieving women: the verse [al-Mumtahanah: 10], and His saying, the Exalted, in Surat al-Baqarah: the verse [al-Baqarah: 221].