If a man is known not to pray in congregation, then he should not be wedded to. This is because not praying in congregation is an open, public display of disobedience to Allah. This is one of the characteristics of the people of hypocrisy and it is one of the steps that leads to abandoning the prayer in totality. And abandoning the prayer completely is a greater form of kufr [that takes one out of the fold of Islam].
Allah has stated, "Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He who deceives them. And when they stand to pray, they stand with laziness" (al-Nisa 142).
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "The hardest prayers upon the hypocrites are the Isha Prayers and the Fajr Prayers. If they knew what they had [of reward and blessings], they would come to them even if they had to crawl." This was recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
In this regard, ibn Masud said, "During our time, none would lag behind the prayer in congregation except for the hypocrite who was well-known for his hypocrisy." This was recorded by Muslim in his Sahih.
It is also confirmed that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "The covenant between us and them is the prayer. Whoever abandons it has committed kufr (infidelity)."
