Ruling on marrying off a woman to one who abandons prayer

This message came from Qatar, from Doha. Its presenter is Muhammad Abdullah al-Dosari. He says: Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. I hope you will resolve my problem, for I am confused about this matter. The question is as follows: I have a cousin’s son to whom I pledged and swore that I would marry my daughter to him if he was diligent in prayer, and if he did not pray, he would have nothing from me, meaning: I would not marry him to me. Then he came to propose, and I said to him: “My son! All your deeds are good except for abandoning prayer, and I do not approve of you.” He persisted in his stubbornness, then he went and got married, and he continued to insist on not caring about prayer. Is there any blame on me regarding the pledge and the oath? And is there an expiation on me for that? Please inform us, may Allah reward you.
Answer: First, marrying a person who does not pray is not permissible. It is not permissible to marry a person who does not pray to a Muslim woman; because abandoning prayer is disbelief, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So the one who does not pray is a disbeliever, and it is not permissible to marry him to a Muslim woman. As Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said regarding the disbelievers: [Al-Mumtahanah: 10], and He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [Al-Baqarah: 221], then He said after that: “And do not marry the polytheists until they believe” [Al-Baqarah: 221].
The position of the most accurate scholars among the people of knowledge is that the one who abandons prayer out of laziness and negligence is a disbeliever by the explicit text of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). As for the one who abandons it by denying its obligation, this one is a disbeliever according to everyone. This one is a disbeliever according to all the people of knowledge. Whoever denies what Allah has made obligatory, which is known from the religion by necessity, such as prayer, zakah, fasting Ramadan, and Hajj, and the like of that, he becomes a disbeliever with major shirk, one who is removed from the religion, according to all the people of knowledge. But prayer, specifically, if he abandons it out of laziness while believing in its obligation, he becomes a disbeliever with major shirk according to the stronger of the scholars’ opinions. And by this it is known that this man who does not pray is not to be married. And you have an expiation; you must expiate for your oath by feeding ten poor people; because you did the opposite of your oath and broke it. So the expiation is upon you by feeding ten poor people, for each poor person half a sa’ of the food of the land, or clothing them, one shirt for each, or an izar and a rida. This is the expiation for the oath.
And you must also strive to free your daughter from him, either by having him divorce her without a trial, or by suing him in the Sharia court, which will look into his case and do what the Sharia requires in annulling the marriage if it is established that he does not pray. There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
We advise all the guardians of women to fear Allah regarding women, and not to marry them to one who is known for abandoning prayer, for abandoning prayer is major shirk; because prayer is the pillar of Islam. So whoever neglects it has neglected his religion, and whoever preserves it has preserved his religion. So it is obligatory upon the guardians of women and upon the women themselves, it is obligatory upon all of them to be cautious about marrying one who abandons prayer. For the one who abandons prayer does not have faith, his good is little and his evil is much, and there is no sin with disbelief . We ask Allah for safety.
So we ask Allah to guide all the Muslims. We ask Allah to guide us all and all the Muslims, young and old, men and women, and to bestow upon all of them success and steadfastness upon the truth, and safety from the stings of Satan. Yes.
The presenter: Your Eminence! He did not marry his daughter to him; because he says: he persisted in his stubbornness then he went and got married and continued to insist on not caring about prayer. So he asks: is there blame on him; because he said in the beginning of his message: a cousin’s son to whom I pledged and swore that I would marry my daughter to him if he was diligent in prayer. So he asks: is there anything on him regarding his oath since he did not marry his daughter to him?
The Shaykh: No, as long as he did not marry him, he did well. If he married him to someone other than the daughter, then...
The presenter: Yes, he married him to someone other than his daughter.
The Shaykh: Then he did well, and he should not marry him; because this one is not to be married. And there is nothing on him regarding his oath. He did well and benefited and excelled. And this is what is obligatory upon him: not to marry a person who neglects the pillar of Islam. We ask Allah for safety. Yes.
The presenter: But is an expiation required of him for...?
The Shaykh: As long as he did not marry him, there is no expiation on him; that would be if he had married him.
The presenter: Because he says: I pledged to him and swore that I would marry my daughter to him if he was diligent in prayer?
The Shaykh: He did not persist in it, and he did not marry him.