Question:
I am a married man, but my wife knows nothing of the Glorious Qur’an and she also does not pray. I have been trying for ten years to get her to pray but all my attempts have failed. Moreover, she does not observe the Islamic dress code and does not accept any advice or instructions concerning this issue. What is the opinion of Your Eminence concerning her?
Answer:
If she does not pray at all, then the marriage is over since whoever abandons Salah (Prayer) has no religion; rather, such a person is a Kafir (disbeliever). May Allah keep us safe. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The covenant that is between us and them is Salah. Anyone who abandons it has committed Kufr (disbelief).” (Related by Imam Ahmad in the Musnad and Abu Dawud, Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah through an authentic Isnad [chain of narrators] on the authority of Buraydah)
The Prophet (peace be upon him) also says: “The peak of the matter is Islam; its pillar is Salah; and its topmost part is Jihad (fighting/striving in the Cause of Allah).”
Whoever abandons the pillar, what else remains for him? He (peace be upon him) also said: “Between man and Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) and Kufr is abandoning Salah (Prayer).” (Related by Muslim in his Sahih).
The use of the masculine form does not exclude women as it was the habit of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to address men and at other times address women, but the ruling is comprehensive; whatever is proven for men is also applicable to women except if there is evidence which makes it specific to only men or women. In conclusion, your wife, in addition to her abandoning Salah, also does not dress in accordance with the Islamic dress code. This indicates that there is sickness in her heart that attracts her to the deeds of the Kafirs and to their way of dressing. My advice to you is to divorce her seeing that in ten years you did not have any influence on her and could not make her adopt the right path. What good do expect of her? There are a lot of other women - all praise be to Allah.
“And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine.” [Al-Talaq 2-3]
He (Glorified be He) also says : “and whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him.” [Al-Talaq: 4]
Divorce her and prepare for good things and a fair end. Yet, you have to ask Allah to guide her. May Allah guide her and us. It will be good to give her a last sincere advice and clarify to her that if she does not respond, you will divorce her, and maybe this helps her to reconsider her actions. Under such circumstance, you are worthier of the custody of your children because she does not deserve this right. As long as she behaves in this way, her custody of the children will harm them greatly and drag them into the danger of not being real Muslims. The final word is that the Muslim parent is absolutely worthier of the children.