Repentance wipes out what came before it
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Repentance of the one who abandons prayer
Question: I have spent most of my life without praying. What should I do now? Is it making up the missed prayers, paying an expiation, or repenting? And how is each of these carried out, and by what method?
Answer: It is obligatory for you to repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), to maintain the prayer for the rest of your life, and to resolve to repent with its conditions, which are regret for what has passed,And ceasing from the sin means: abandoning the sin permanently, leaving it permanently, and resolving not to return to it again.
If you have this repentance, and you obey Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in the future, and you maintain the prayers, then this is sufficient for you, if Allah wills, and you owe nothing for what came before. This is because you left the prayer intentionally, and this is disbelief in Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Leaving the prayer intentionally takes a person out of the religion, even if he did not deny its obligation, according to the correct of the two opinions of the scholars.
[You must maintain] the prayer in the future, for repentance wipes out what came before it. Because your leaving the prayer during the period that passed, while you were intentional in leaving it, takes you out of the religion according to the correct of the two opinions of the scholars. But if you repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with a valid repentance, and you maintain the prayer, this is sufficient for you, if Allah wills.
Question: I have spent most of my life without praying. What should I do now? Is it making up the missed prayers, paying an expiation, or repenting? And how is each of these carried out, and by what method?
Answer: It is obligatory for you to repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), to maintain the prayer for the rest of your life, and to resolve to repent with its conditions, which are regret for what has passed,And ceasing from the sin means: abandoning the sin permanently, leaving it permanently, and resolving not to return to it again.
If you have this repentance, and you obey Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in the future, and you maintain the prayers, then this is sufficient for you, if Allah wills, and you owe nothing for what came before. This is because you left the prayer intentionally, and this is disbelief in Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Leaving the prayer intentionally takes a person out of the religion, even if he did not deny its obligation, according to the correct of the two opinions of the scholars.
[You must maintain] the prayer in the future, for repentance wipes out what came before it. Because your leaving the prayer during the period that passed, while you were intentional in leaving it, takes you out of the religion according to the correct of the two opinions of the scholars. But if you repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with a valid repentance, and you maintain the prayer, this is sufficient for you, if Allah wills.