What is obligatory for a man who repented from abandoning fasting, prayer, and other acts of righteousness?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His forgiveness.
The questioner : How are you, Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : We praise Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The Shaykh : How are you?
The questioner : We are well, praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And how is Umm al-Fadl?
The Shaykh : She is well, praise be to Allah. Do you want to speak with her?
The questioner : No, I have a question.
The Shaykh : Hurry up with it?
The questioner: Huh?
The Shaykh : Hurry up, hurry up with it?
The questioner : Yes, yes. My question is, O our Shaykh, one of them is a man who recently repented, recently repented. Do you hear me, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, recently with what?
The questioner : With repentance.
The Shaykh : With repentance, yes.
The questioner : Yes, and before he repented, he was not fasting, and he was, meaning, he was a man, meaning a Muslim, who...
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : So he asks, O our Shaykh, what does he do now? Does he make up everything he owes for everything he erred in? What does he do, O Shaykh, regarding fasting for this person?
The Shaykh : What does he do regarding why?
The questioner : Regarding fasting.
The Shaykh : Fasting?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Meaning, he was not fasting?
The questioner : No, no, he was not fasting, yes.
The Shaykh : And was he praying?
The questioner: No, no.
The Shaykh : So he was not fasting and not praying, is that so?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, he must repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with sincere repentance. Sincere repentance requires regret for what he did in abandoning fasting and prayer, and the resolve not to return to it, and to increase in obedience and worship to compensate for the good he missed due to his wasting of fasting and prayer. As for making up the fasting and prayer, these two acts of worship which he intentionally abandoned without a valid legal excuse, there is no way for him or anyone else who did what he did to make them up. So he repents, regrets what has passed, resolves not to return to it, and maintains the prayers and fasting. He increases in acts of obedience, especially of the same type of worship he neglected. For example, he prays every prayer in its time and increases in voluntary prayers, whether these voluntary prayers are specific, like the regular voluntary prayers (rawatib), or general. Similarly, regarding fasting, he maintains the month of Ramadan, then increases in voluntary fasting, such as fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, or fasting one day and breaking the fast the next, as Dawud (peace be upon him) used to fast, and the like. By this, his repentance becomes sincere repentance, with His permission (Glorified and Exalted is He). Did you hear my words?
The questioner : Yes, I heard it. May Allah bless you, and I understood it well.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The questioner : Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His forgiveness.
The questioner : How are you, Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : We praise Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The Shaykh : How are you?
The questioner : We are well, praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And how is Umm al-Fadl?
The Shaykh : She is well, praise be to Allah. Do you want to speak with her?
The questioner : No, I have a question.
The Shaykh : Hurry up with it?
The questioner: Huh?
The Shaykh : Hurry up, hurry up with it?
The questioner : Yes, yes. My question is, O our Shaykh, one of them is a man who recently repented, recently repented. Do you hear me, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, recently with what?
The questioner : With repentance.
The Shaykh : With repentance, yes.
The questioner : Yes, and before he repented, he was not fasting, and he was, meaning, he was a man, meaning a Muslim, who...
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : So he asks, O our Shaykh, what does he do now? Does he make up everything he owes for everything he erred in? What does he do, O Shaykh, regarding fasting for this person?
The Shaykh : What does he do regarding why?
The questioner : Regarding fasting.
The Shaykh : Fasting?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Meaning, he was not fasting?
The questioner : No, no, he was not fasting, yes.
The Shaykh : And was he praying?
The questioner: No, no.
The Shaykh : So he was not fasting and not praying, is that so?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, he must repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with sincere repentance. Sincere repentance requires regret for what he did in abandoning fasting and prayer, and the resolve not to return to it, and to increase in obedience and worship to compensate for the good he missed due to his wasting of fasting and prayer. As for making up the fasting and prayer, these two acts of worship which he intentionally abandoned without a valid legal excuse, there is no way for him or anyone else who did what he did to make them up. So he repents, regrets what has passed, resolves not to return to it, and maintains the prayers and fasting. He increases in acts of obedience, especially of the same type of worship he neglected. For example, he prays every prayer in its time and increases in voluntary prayers, whether these voluntary prayers are specific, like the regular voluntary prayers (rawatib), or general. Similarly, regarding fasting, he maintains the month of Ramadan, then increases in voluntary fasting, such as fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, or fasting one day and breaking the fast the next, as Dawud (peace be upon him) used to fast, and the like. By this, his repentance becomes sincere repentance, with His permission (Glorified and Exalted is He). Did you hear my words?
The questioner : Yes, I heard it. May Allah bless you, and I understood it well.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.