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What is the ruling on a Muslim woman marrying a man who does not pray and commits some sins, such as speaking with non-mahram women and smoking, given that the father is forcing his daughter into this marriage? Would she be legally excused if she marries him out of fear of her father?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a person abandons prayer while denying its obligation, he is, by scholarly consensus, considered an apostate (kafir), and his marriage to a Muslim woman is not valid. However, if he abandons it out of negligence, the majority of jurists do not deem him an apostate, but they consider him a transgressor (fasiq) who is not suitable for a righteous Muslim woman. A girl is not obliged to obey her father in marrying a fasiq. According to the Hanbalis, who consider him an apostate, marriage to him is neither permissible nor valid. If a marriage does occur, the validity of a transgressor's marriage to a righteous woman is a matter of dispute, and most scholars affirm its validity.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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