Married to a man who neglects the prayer: what should she do?

Praise be to Allah.

We put the following question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen:

I am married to a man who neglects his prayer. Allaah has guided me and I insisted that he should pray, so he started to pray as if he was forced to do so. He has clearly told me, I am only praying because of you. Is it permissible for me to stay with him or not?

The shaykh may Allaah preserve him answered as follows:

If the marriage contract was made at the time when he was not praying, then it is not valid, and if this is the case then she has to keep away from him. If he becomes Muslim, the contract is renewed, and if he does not become Muslim, then Allaah will send her a Muslim man who is better than him.

Question:

If she got married to him when she too was not praying, and he was not praying, does this make the marriage null and void?

Answer:

If they were following a certain religion, then the marriage remains valid, but if they were not following any religion and were murtadd (apostates), then many of the scholars say that the marriage of apostates is not valid, because they are not following any religion, neither Islam nor the religion from which they apostatized.

Question:

If the husband who is praying clearly tells his wife that he is praying only for her sake, is that sufficient to count him as a murtadd (apostate), or should she go by what she sees, which is that he is praying?

Answer:

It seems to me that he is praying to Allaah to please her. This does not means that his whole prayer, the standing, bowing, prostrating and duaa, is directed towards her. He is praying to Allaah to please her, and that does not make him a mushrik. And Allaah knows best.