Question:
This message is from Mr. Khader al-Khalifa al-Ali from the Syrian Arab Republic, Deir ez-Zur Governorate. He has several questions, and says: I am married and have three children. I practice the Islamic religion, Allah’s willing. My wife is Muslim and fasts Ramadan, but she does not pray and does not obey me or submit to performing the prayer. Is it my right to divorce her according to Sharia if she does not obey me or not? Please advise us, if you would be so kind.
Answer:
If your wife does not pray, neglects the prayer, and is persistent in abandoning it, then she is a disbeliever—we seek refuge in Allah from that. This is the weightier opinion among the views of the people of knowledge: ‘that the one who abandons the prayer is a disbeliever, a disbelief that takes one out of the fold of Islam.’
Accordingly, she is forbidden to you until she returns to her religion and prays. It is not permissible for you to keep her with you in this state, because her marriage was annulled by her apostasy—unless she repents, returns to the religion of Islam, and prays, in which case she would be your wife.