The ruling on making up fasting and prayer for one who abandoned them out of ignorance

Question:
I am a woman, twenty-seven years old, and I used to live in an environment that did not care about religion. I did not fast, and I did not pray after reaching puberty. After my marriage, I learned from my husband, may Allah reward him with good, that fasting is obligatory just like prayer. I was ignorant that fasting is obligatory; in fact, I thought it was based on one's ability, so I would only pray. Sometimes, after reflecting, I regretted the years of my life that had passed. I fasted, praise be to Allah, and I performed the prayer, and I performed the obligatory Hajj, praise and thanks be to Allah. But my question, Honorable Shaykh, is about the fasting and prayer of the years that have passed. I have calculated the fasting, and it amounts to four months. So what exactly should I do? Please guide me, and I will carry it out if Allah wills. May Allah reward you with good. She has another question regarding voluntary prayer and voluntary night prayer in her situation: is it permissible, or should she start by making up the missed prayers and then do voluntary ones? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
If she did not pray during the period she mentioned, then her fasting is not valid, even if she fasted while not praying. Consequently, she is not required to make up the fasts. Rather, she is required to repent to Allah and to maintain prayer and fasting in the future of her life. However, if she was praying during the period when she left off fasting, and she was maintaining prayer, but she left off fasting out of ignorance of its ruling, as stated in her question—she left off fasting out of ignorance of the ruling on fasting, that it is obligatory, and that it is a pillar of Islam, and there was no one there to teach her, but she was maintaining prayer—in this case, she is required to make up the fasts. She is required to make up the Ramadans she left off by starting with the first Ramadan. Once she finishes that, she fasts the second Ramadan, and so on until she finishes what is due from her. Along with making up the fasts, she must feed one poor person for every day for the delay. As for the voluntary prayers and fasts, as we mentioned, she starts with making up the fasts. She starts with making up the fasts. As for the prayer, she may perform voluntary prayers. She may perform voluntary prayers. Yes. May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.