What is the ruling on a wife cohabiting with her husband who does not pray, knowing that she has separated from him financially and he has refused a divorce?

Abandoning the obligatory prayers is one of the greatest sins. Scholars have differed regarding the ruling on one who abandons prayer: some hold that he is a disbeliever and has left the fold of Islam, while the majority differentiate between abandoning it out of denial (which is disbelief) and abandoning it out of laziness (which is a major sin).

If the husband denies the obligation of prayer, then he is a disbeliever, and it is not permissible for his wife to remain with him; she must separate from him.

However, if he acknowledges its obligation but abandons it out of laziness, then according to the majority, his marriage is not nullified, and it is permissible to live with him. It is also permissible for her to abandon him in bed for the sake of Allah.

The wife is advised to counsel him and help him repent and maintain prayer. If he does not repent, she should seek to separate from him through khul' (divorce at the wife's instance) or similar means.