If one abandons the prayer and then repents and returns to performing it, is repentance sufficient, or is it necessary to make up the missed prayers?
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The questioner:
May Allah reward you. In the fourth question, he says: If a person was not praying, and then he started praying, what is obligatory for him regarding those prayers he was not performing?
The Shaykh:
This is a matter requiring consideration. If the prayers are numerous and it is difficult for him to make them up, then repentance is sufficient, along with maintaining the prayer in the future. Especially since the correct view is that one who intentionally abandons the prayer becomes a disbeliever.
The presenter:
We ask Allah for safety.
The Shaykh:
And the disbeliever’s prayer is not valid until he repents to Allah. So what is obligatory for such a person is sincere repentance, maintaining the prayer in the future, and repentance wipes out what came before it. Yes.
May Allah reward you. In the fourth question, he says: If a person was not praying, and then he started praying, what is obligatory for him regarding those prayers he was not performing?
The Shaykh:
This is a matter requiring consideration. If the prayers are numerous and it is difficult for him to make them up, then repentance is sufficient, along with maintaining the prayer in the future. Especially since the correct view is that one who intentionally abandons the prayer becomes a disbeliever.
The presenter:
We ask Allah for safety.
The Shaykh:
And the disbeliever’s prayer is not valid until he repents to Allah. So what is obligatory for such a person is sincere repentance, maintaining the prayer in the future, and repentance wipes out what came before it. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5222- من ترك الصلاة ثم تاب ورجع لأدائها، هل التوبة تكفيه أم لا بد من قضاء المتروك؟ - صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.