Some people pray the missed prayer, and I mean the prayer in which they were negligent in performing it

The questioner : Some people, O honorable Shaykh, pray the missed prayer, and I mean the prayer in which they were negligent in performing it. For example, a person who did not pray until he was twenty years old, then he wanted to make up what he missed, so he prays another time with every time. What is your opinion on that? May you be rewarded.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. Before answering this question, I would like to say to my brother listeners that the prayer is of great significance and its danger is severe. There is no deed whose abandonment is disbelief except the prayer, as Abdullah ibn Shaqiq said about the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that they did not consider any deed whose abandonment is disbelief other than the prayer. Therefore, it is obligatory for the believer to fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and to preserve his prayer as his Lord commanded him in His saying: And as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) praised those who preserve their prayers and made that one of the causes of inheriting Firdaus, which is the highest part of Paradise.
And the prayers are light in the heart, in the face, and in the grave; a light by which the darkness of ignorance is removed. The prayers are a connection between the person and his Lord; he stands before Him, whispering to Him with His words. It is established in the authentic hadith from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: قال الله تعالى: قسمت الصلاة بيني وبين عبدي نصفين، فإذا قال: الحمد لله رب العالمين قال الله تعالى: حمدني عبدي، وإذا قال: الرحمان الرحيم قال: أثنى علي عبدي، وإذا قال: مالك يوم الدين قال: مجدني عبدي، وإذا قال: إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين قال: هذا بيني وبين عبدي نصفين، وإذا قال: اهدنا الصراط المستقيم قال: هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل Allah the Exalted said: I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant in two halves. When he says: "Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds," Allah the Exalted says: "My servant praised Me." When he says: "The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy," He says: "My servant praised Me." When he says: "Master of the Day of Judgment," He says: "My servant glorified Me." When he says: "You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help," He says: "This is between Me and My servant, and My servant gets what he asked for." When he says: "Guide us to the straight path," He says: "This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he asked for." So it is not fitting for the believer to waste this great opportunity, to waste the whispering to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) through negligence and play. And there is no doubt that the person who knows the value of the prayer in Islam and its reward and wage with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will never waste this prayer. Therefore, its wasting and abandonment is disbelief that takes one out of the religion, according to the stronger opinion of the scholars of knowledge. Its evidence is from the Book and the Sunnah, the sayings of the Companions, and correct reasoning.
As for the Book, Allah the Exalted said regarding the polytheists: If the condition is not met, either entirely or partially, then the conditioned thing is not completed, and it is not possible for the brotherhood of faith to be absent except by exiting faith entirely.
And in the authentic hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: And his companions of the Sunan narrated from him that he said (peace and blessings be upon him): meaning between the polytheists and the disbelievers .
And Abdullah ibn Shaqiq transmitted from the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that they did not consider any deed whose abandonment is disbelief other than the prayer.
And correct reasoning necessitates that, for it is not possible for a person who has faith in his heart and knows the greatness of the prayer and its benefit and the warning for those who are negligent with it to abandon it forever. And from here, the answer to the question you raised becomes clear to us.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So we say: This person who abandoned the prayer from the time he reached puberty until he was twenty years old, while knowing its obligation, does not make it up, because during this period he was a disbeliever, and a disbeliever does not make up what he missed of deeds, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: And if we assume that he is not a disbeliever due to his ignorance and negligence, or his belief that abandoning the prayer is not disbelief, as is the opinion of many scholars, then he does not make it up either, according to the stronger opinion. And if he makes it up, it will not be accepted from him, because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) made the prayer obligatory in specific times, so He said (Mighty and Majestic): So if he delays it from its time intentionally without an excuse, he has performed it in a manner in which he was not commanded, so it will be rejected from him, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .
And by this, we know that the stronger opinion is that this young man who did not pray until he was twenty years old does not have to make up the missed prayers after his puberty. But he must rectify his deed and increase in seeking forgiveness and in voluntary prayer, because the voluntary prayers complete the obligatory ones on the Day of Resurrection. And we hope for him from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) complete forgiveness and mercy.

The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : This questioner from Libya says.