The Ruling on the Marriage Contract of One Who Did Not Pray, Then Allah Guided Him

Question :

In my former years, I did not pray and I married while I was like this, but now all praise and thanks be to Allah-He, Most Glorified, Most High has guided me. Is the marriage contract valid?

Answer:

If your wife, like you, did not pray at the time the contract was made, then the contract is valid. But if she was praying, then you must renew the contract, because it is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a disbeliever, according to the Words of Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful:
"And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikün till they believe (in Allah Alone)"

And the meaning is: Do not marry them to Muslim women until they embrace Islam. And according to the Words of Him, Most Glorified:
"then if you ascertain that they are true believers send them not back to the disbelievers. They are not lawful (wives) for the disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them."

And it is well known that abandoning prayer is an act of major disbelief, even if the one who abandons it does not deny its obligation, according to the most correct of the two opinions held by the scholars. This is based upon the saying of the Prophet:
"The covenant between us and them is prayer, so whoever abandons it has disbelieved."

Narrated by Imam Ahmad and the compilers of the Four Sunan, with an authentic chain of narrators.

And the words of the Prophet:
"Between a man and Shirk is abandoning prayer."

The noble Tabi'i, 'Abdullah bin Shaqiq Al-'Uqayli may Allah have mercy on him reported that there was a consensus among the Companions of the Prophet regarding the disbelief of one who abandons prayer. And Allah is the Granter of success.

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