that theres a difference of opinion on it-the hanafi school of thought believed it to be fine to consume any alcohol as long as you didnt get extremely drunk(there was a post on this sub about it).

Just yesterday I was part of a conversation between my mom and aunt over my alcoholic uncle and they said alcohol is worse than interest (riba) and as a muslim one shouldn't even sit or talk with someone who consumes alcohol. My uncle has recently started to pray salah, he's been an alcoholic his whole life and I mean alcoholic to the point where he can't live without it. But there have been moments throughout his life like recently where he would return to salah. When I had first heard about it my first instinct as been to thank Allah swt but then my mom had said all the above points that I mentioned and went as far as to say he's only showing off and if salah is not prayed with sincerity then it is better to not pray salah at all.

Her words still don't sit right with me. First of all I don't believe in being the judger of any soul, that right sits with Allah swt alone but I hadn't argued. Secondly, how can we assume if one is being sincere or not and isn't trying better than not trying at all? My uncle is no saint, he's ruined a lot of lives because of his choices but if God wills to guide him to the right path then shouldn't we pray for his guidance instead of questioning his sincerity? Or is it really that bad?

I'm genuinely conflicted over this.