Ruling on a wife remaining with a husband who does not pray

This is a message from the questioner Fatimah Muhammad Abdullah from al-Hasa. She says: I have a husband who does not pray, and it has been twenty-seven years since I married him. He does not pray and does not fast from the beginning. Then, after fifteen years, he prays and fasts only in Ramadan, and then he abandons prayer and fasting. In my heart, I have a dislike for Allah the Exalted, and there is nothing I dislike more than this, and he is the father of my children. She hopes for your guidance, O honorable Shaykh?
Answer: Abandoning prayer is disbelief in Allah Mighty and Majestic. Therefore, it is not permissible for her to remain with him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that abandoning prayer is disbelief. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This person who does not pray; it is not permissible for the woman to remain with him. Rather, she should separate from him and present her case to the court, and the court will separate them; because this is a great disbelief, we seek refuge in Allah. The correct view is that it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), the correct view among the scholars is that it is major shirk. And a group of scholars held that it is disbelief less than disbelief, and that it does not take him out of the religion as long as he acknowledges that prayer is obligatory. He knows that it is obligatory, but his laxity led him to that. So according to a group of scholars, he does not become a disbeliever with major disbelief.
But in any case, he has committed a great crime, greater than zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), greater than liwat (sodomy), and greater than undutifulness to parents. So it is obligatory for this woman to fear Allah Mighty and Majestic and not to remain with this type of people who is—may Allah protect us from that—has neglected the pillar of Islam; because Allah said regarding the disbelievers: [Al-Mumtahanah: 10].
So the Muslim woman does not remain with the disbeliever ever. And the correct view is: that this person is a disbeliever with major disbelief, we seek refuge in Allah. So it is not permissible for her to remain with him. Rather, she must separate from him, isolate herself from him, and hate him for the sake of Allah Mighty and Majestic. And she must demand his separation from her. She demands from the authorities... she demands from the court to separate her from him because he has committed a great matter that many scholars considered major disbelief. We ask Allah to guide us and him. We ask Allah to return him to repentance. We ask Allah for guidance for us and for him.
But this questioner must strive for his separation through the court if his abandonment of prayer is a clear and known matter. She must establish proof against him, and the court will separate her from him if he does not repent. But if he repents and Allah guides him, praise be to Allah.
And it is obligatory for the authorities, if they know of someone who abandons prayer, to ask him to repent. If he repents, otherwise he is killed as a disbeliever, we seek refuge in Allah, according to the correct view, or he is given the discretionary punishment according to the second opinion. And in any case, it is obligatory for the one who abandons prayer to repent to Allah and to hasten with repentance. And he must know that he has committed a great and abominable evil. So he must repent to Allah the Exalted and hasten to perform prayer, and beware of imitating the enemies of Allah in abandoning prayer. And Allah Mighty and Majestic said regarding the people of the Fire: [Al-Muddaththir: 42-43]. So they mentioned the most important deeds by which they entered the Fire: the absence of prayer, we seek refuge in Allah. We ask Allah for safety.
The presenter: You have done well, may Allah reward you... Thank you, O honorable Shaykh.