A young man, twenty-three years old, says: Since my childhood, I have been negligent in my acts of worship. I would pray for a month and then leave it for a month. I would fast for a year and then leave it.
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The questioner : This is a message that came from Syria. The questioner says: O honorableThe Shaykh : A young man, twenty-three years old, says: Since my childhood, I have been negligent in my acts of worship. I would pray for a month and then leave it for a month. I would fast for a year and then leave it for two years, and I would commit some sins. But, praise be to Allah, He accepted my repentance, and I repented to my Lord with a sincere repentance. What must I do about the sins and major sins that I have missed? Guide us, may you be rewarded.
The Shaykh : If he repented to Allah with a sincere repentance, being truthful in his repentance, then repentance demolishes what came before it. He is not required to make up any missed prayers or fasts, nor is he required to pay zakah if he possessed wealth but the lunar year did not complete. However, if the lunar year did complete, it is obligatory for him to pay the zakah on what came before, because zakah involves the rights of others, so rights must be delivered to their owners.
Someone might say: Even the zakah is dropped from him, because in zakah, the aspect of private worship for Allah the Exalted and Majestic prevails. But the precaution is to pay the zakah. An example of this is a man who neglects zakah for four years, for instance, and then repents. We tell him: Pay the zakah for the four years that have passed, because zakah contains a right for others, so let him deliver his right to them. This is the most precautionary and the most exonerating for his conscience.
As for the acts of worship between him and his Lord, they are dropped by repentance, and he is not required to make them up.
The Shaykh : If he repented to Allah with a sincere repentance, being truthful in his repentance, then repentance demolishes what came before it. He is not required to make up any missed prayers or fasts, nor is he required to pay zakah if he possessed wealth but the lunar year did not complete. However, if the lunar year did complete, it is obligatory for him to pay the zakah on what came before, because zakah involves the rights of others, so rights must be delivered to their owners.
Someone might say: Even the zakah is dropped from him, because in zakah, the aspect of private worship for Allah the Exalted and Majestic prevails. But the precaution is to pay the zakah. An example of this is a man who neglects zakah for four years, for instance, and then repents. We tell him: Pay the zakah for the four years that have passed, because zakah contains a right for others, so let him deliver his right to them. This is the most precautionary and the most exonerating for his conscience.
As for the acts of worship between him and his Lord, they are dropped by repentance, and he is not required to make them up.