I am a young man, twenty-seven years old, and I was lost in a far-reaching state of misguidance. Allah has granted me sincere repentance, praise be to Allah, and my question is that I did not

The questioner : The questioner says: I am a young man, twenty-seven years old, and I was lost in a far-reaching state of misguidance. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has granted me sincere repentance, praise be to Allah, and my question is that I did not fast in Ramadan throughout this entire period. Is it obligatory for him to make up the fasts or not? And how can one reconcile the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: and the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): or as he said. Knowing that I knew this hadith before, during my period of breaking the fast, but my soul and Satan overpowered me. Please advise us, may Allah reward you?

The Shaykh : This man who was lost, as he described himself, and then Allah granted him guidance—we ask Allah the Exalted for steadfastness for him and that He keep him in this state of victory over the soul, desire, and Satan, which is a blessing from Allah upon him. One does not know the reality of misguidance unless he has been tested with it and then guided to Islam. A person does not know the value of Islam unless he knows disbelief. So we say to this man: We congratulate you on the blessing of Allah upon you through your rectitude, and we ask Allah the Exalted to keep us and you upon the truth. The acts of worship you left behind in the past, such as fasting, prayer, zakah, and others, you are not required to make them up now, because repentance obliterates what came before it. If you repent to Allah, turn to Him, and do good deeds, that is sufficient for you regarding the repetition of these acts. This is a matter we should know, and the rule is: “A time-bound act of worship, if a person performs it outside its time without an excuse, is not valid”. Any time-bound act of worship, if a person leaves it until its time has passed, it does not benefit him and does not suffice him. For example? Like prayer and fasting. If a person intentionally does not pray until the time has passed, and then comes to ask us, “Is it obligatory for me to make it up?” we tell him, “It is not obligatory for you.” Even if someone left a day of Ramadan without fasting and came to ask us, “Is it obligatory for me to make it up?” we tell him, “It is not obligatory for you to make it up,” because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And if you delay a time-bound act of worship until its time has passed and then perform it after the time, you have done an act for which there is no command from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so it is invalid and does not benefit you. But if someone were to say, “What about a man who forgot the prayer until the time had passed? Does he make it up?”

The questioner : Yes, he makes it up.

The Shaykh : If you stand up so that people can hear.

The questioner : If he was intentional, he does not make it up. If he was not intentional.

The Shaykh : I asked you, answer my question only.

The questioner : If he was forgetful, he makes it up.

The Shaykh : If he was forgetful, he makes it up. The evidence is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): But if I were to tell you that this hadith contradicts your statement where you said that if a person leaves the prayer intentionally, he does not make it up, and the point of contradiction is that if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) obligated the forgetful person, who is excused, to make it up, then the intentional person is even more so obligated. Yes, the scholars who hold that making up the prayer is obligatory for the intentional person say this. They say, “If the Lawgiver commanded making it up when there is an excuse, then when there is no excuse, it is even more so.” But we say in answer: The excused person, the time of prayer for him, when his excuse is removed, he has not delayed the prayer beyond its time. Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: As for the one who intentionally left the act of worship until its time had passed, he has performed it outside its specified time, so it is not accepted from him.