A religious woman is the optimum choice for marriage, even for a sinner
9-7-2014 | IslamWeb
Question:
Asalam mu alaykum sheikh a guy who is religiously committed and reads quran and sunnah learns deen on daily basis perform prayers but somtimes misses fajr prayer do things which are haram in islam...and thinks tht if he will marry a religious woman thn she will help him in faith and help him to get out of all those sins or he should not choose a woman who is more religious than him because she might deserves someone better than him?
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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
This young man should be advised to repent to turn to Allaah in repentance of the forbidden acts he is committing and his neglect of performing the Fajr prayer. The conditions for repentance have been underlined in Fatwa 86527.
He should be keen on doing whatever helps him uphold the prayer and wake up for performing Fajr prayer in its due time. You may consider the advice highlighted in this regard in the following Fataawa 85275, 84807 and 88163.
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, urged Muslim men to choose women of good religion and character [for marriage]. Abu Hurayrah 
reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Women are married for four things: their wealth, their nobility, their beauty and their religious commitment. Choose the one who is religiously committed, may your hands be rubbed with dust (i.e. may you prosper)." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Verily, a righteous wife can be of great help to her husband by encouraging him to carry out acts of obedience and keep following the straight path as you have mentioned.
As for arguing that one must not choose for marriage a woman who is more righteous and religiously committed than him because she deserves a better and more pious Muslim, these are meaningless thoughts that should be totally ignored. If such a man proposed to a woman, who is more righteous and religiously committed, she has the right to accept or reject his proposal. She may see in him commendable and desirable qualities that encourage her to accept his proposal just as he is or accept his proposal because she fears that she would not find a suitable suitor or have any other reason for accepting his proposal.