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Fatwa CenterRelations with Brother Who Does Not Pray
Question
I have an elder brother. He doesn't offer Prayer. I've learnt that one must break ties with him who doesn't pray. So, what are the orders in Qur'an and Hadith for a person who doesn't offer prayer?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Severing ties with the one who does not offer the prayer, needs some details especially if he is a blood relative or one who shares in work or place of living.
A) If severing relations with a person is useful so that he will refrain from evil and keep performing the prayer due to this severance, then it becomes mandatory to sever the relation with such a person.
B) If the severance does not have any effect on him, rather he may go far in committing evil, abandoning the prayer, etc., then in this case, it is better to maintain good relations with him to call him to goodness, and to exhort him using all wisdom and suitable ways and means.
The correct opinion of Muslim scholars is that the person who abandons the prayer completely becomes a Kafir (non-Muslim); the marriage of such a person with a Muslim woman is invalid; if they were married, the marriage contract would be cancelled. Also, it is not permissible to allow him to be responsible for Muslims' affairs or to hold the guardianship of his daughter in her marriage, etc. If he is a knowledgeable person, then his opinions or decrees have no weight. Also, the person who completely gives up prayer will not inherit from a Muslim, will not be washed if he dies, and he will not be wrapped in a burial cloth. Muslims will not offer the funeral prayer for such a person and will not bury him in the graveyard of Muslims, and they will not supplicate for his forgiveness.
Finally, we quote here a saying of some scholars: “The punishment of the one who abandons prayers, according to Muslim scholars, is to be killed. That is the stance of most of these Muslim scholars. According to the minority of Muslim scholars, the one who abandons prayers should be jailed and punished till he makes repentance and returns to perform prayers. There is no chance for such a person to live freely amongst Muslims.” However, we would like to inform you that only a Muslim ruler could implement the Hadd (i.e., the corporal punishment determined by the Islamic Law); individuals are not allowed to enforce the rules of punishments.
For more benefit on the ruling on abandoning the prayer or delaying it, please refer to Fataawa 384457, 377344, 88016, 84178, 83565, 87587, 90926, 88690 and 84403.
Allah knows best.
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