Ruling on marrying a girl who does not pray

Question:
A brother listener from the Arab Republic of Egypt says: I married a girl, and I noticed that she does not pray. How do you guide me? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
If you are praying and she is not praying, the contract is not valid according to the most correct opinion of the scholars; because by leaving off the prayer, she is considered a disbeliever, and a Muslim does not have the marriage of a disbeliever except if she is from the People of the Book... from the Jews and the chaste women of the Christians specifically. As for a disbeliever other than the chaste women of the People of the Book, it is not permissible, so it is not permissible to marry her. If you are praying and upright, and she is not praying, the marriage is invalid, and you have to renew the marriage according to the most correct opinion of the scholars.
As for if you are not praying like her, the marriage is valid; because it is permissible for a disbeliever to marry a disbeliever just as it is permissible for a Muslim to marry a Muslim woman. As for if one of the spouses is not praying, the marriage is not valid except if she is a People of the Book, in which case there is no harm. The People of the Book are the Jewish woman and the Christian woman, and it is permissible for a Muslim and a disbeliever to marry her. May Allah guide them all.

The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.