The ruling on the marriage contract if one of the spouses does not pray

Question:
A message was received for the program from Jeddah, and its sender is a brother of ours from there. He says: The sender is your brother in Islam, Awad al-Sulami from Jeddah. Our brother’s message is lengthy; in fact, I understood from it, Your Eminence the Shaykh, that he listened to the discussion you graciously gave regarding the marriage contract with a woman who does not pray. Many people have begun to ask about this topic and want to rectify their situations. How do you guide them? May Allah reward you with good. Specifically, if a man marries a woman who does not pray, or a woman marries a man and discovers that he does not pray, how do you guide them?
May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
This is a great issue. It concerns the case where a committed man who prays marries a woman who does not pray, or the reverse: a man who is negligent and leaves off prayer marries a committed, good woman who maintains her prayer. Some scholars held that the marriage is valid if neither of them denies the prayer, but rather affirms it and knows that it is obligatory, yet he is lazy. This is the well-known position in the madhhab of Malik, Abu Hanifah, and al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on them).
A group of the Salaf held that leaving off prayer is major shirk, even if one does not deny its obligation. This is the view of a large group of the people of hadith (may Allah have mercy on them). Abdullah ibn Shaqiq al-Aqili, the noble Tabi'i, narrated it from all the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), saying: “The Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not consider anything left off to be disbelief except prayer.” The basis for this is what is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Imam Ahmad recorded it in his Musnad, and the compilers of the four Sunan recorded it with a sound chain from Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him).
In Sahih Muslim, from Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that he said: There are other hadiths on this topic, and this view is the more correct of the two views, namely that leaving off prayer intentionally is major shirk, even if one does not deny its obligation, according to the apparent meaning of the Book and the Sunnah.
If a committed man who prays marries a woman who does not pray, the marriage is not valid according to the correct view. If she repents, the marriage is renewed. If he has desire for her and she has desire for him, the marriage is renewed. And the reverse is the same: if a man who does not pray marries a committed woman who prays, the marriage is not valid either. They must renew it if the one who does not pray repents. If he repents with sincere repentance, there is no barrier to renewal if each of them has desire for the other. This is the preferred view, and it is the stronger position in terms of evidence. And Allah is the Helper. Yes.

The presenter: And Allah is the Helper, may Allah reward you with good.