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Thinks he may have to renew his marriage because he was not praying before the wedding

Question

I have been married for the last 4 years with a lovely wife and daughter Hamdu Lillaah, but I have a big problem which keeps tormenting me and making my life hell, when I got married (Aakd Al-Nikaah) I was not praying but my was (I only started praying on the day I consumed my marriage--3 days after the Aakd Al Nikaah). I heard lately that I must renew my marriage because she was not supposed to marry me if I was not praying. Please tell me what I shall do. Because I do not want to live in a sin (Haram) nor do I want to destroy my family but for me God comes first. Please help me.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

Abandoning the prayer is a very serious matter and one of the great major sins and whoever abandons it while denying its obligation is a Kaafir (non-Muslim) according to the majority of scholars may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them. However, they differed regarding a person who abandons it out of laziness; some of them believe that he is out of the fold of Islam, and this is enough an evidence about the seriousness of neglecting and abandoning prayers. So you have to be careful about this in the future. As regards your marriage while abandoning the prayer, if you had not abandoned the prayer denying its obligation then your marriage is correct according to the view of the scholars may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them who consider that a person who abandons the prayer out of laziness is not a Kaafir (non-Muslim), and they are the majority; therefore you do not have to renew your marriage contract.

Allaah knows best.

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