What is the ruling on marrying a Christian woman who does not pray, by analogy with the obligation to leave a Muslim wife who abandons prayer and insists on doing so?
Allah has permitted a Muslim man to marry a chaste woman from the People of the Book (Jewish or Christian) who does not commit immorality, based on His saying, the Exalted: "And the chaste women from those who were given the Scripture." If the Christian woman is chaste, then marriage to her is permissible, even if it is better to avoid it due to certain concerns. As for the Muslim wife who insists on abandoning prayer after all means have been exhausted, it is obligatory to separate from her, based on the view that a person who abandons prayer out of laziness is a disbeliever, which is the preferred view if she abandons it entirely. The difference is that the woman from the People of the Book remains upon her religion, while the Muslim woman who abandons prayer is an apostate, according to the view that she is a disbeliever, and an apostate is worse than an original disbeliever, bearing in mind that the majority of scholars do not consider one who abandons prayer to be a disbeliever if he does not deny its obligation.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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