The obligation to separate from a wife who does not pray

Q: The brother who indicated his name—S. S. S.—from Casablanca in Morocco says in his question: I have been married for ten years, and my wife does not care about performing the prayer; sometimes she misses it and leaves it. There is often a quarrel between us over the prayer. The same is the case with fasting; if she has days remaining from Ramadan, she does not make them up, and if she does, it is with great difficulty. I suffer many hardships and problems with her due to matters related to religion. If I invite her to teach her something of the Qur'an, she does not respond to that, knowing that she does not know anything of the Qur'an. The question is: What is the ruling on remaining and living with her in this state? Knowing that I have children from her, I ask you to inform me about that. May Allah reward you with good.

A: If the state of your wife is as you described: her negligence regarding the prayer, and her failure to maintain it despite your advice to her and your effort to guide her to good, then it is obligatory for you to separate from her. This is because whoever abandons the prayer, among men and women, commits major disbelief, even if he does not deny its obligation, according to the most correct of the scholars' opinions. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): It was narrated by Imam Ahmad and the people of the Sunan with a sound chain; and other narrations have come regarding this.
We ask Allah to guide her, and to grant her repentance, or to give you someone better than her. He is the best of those asked.