What is obligatory for one who abandoned prayer and fasting and then repented?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
A brother from al-Qasim, whose name is indicated by the initials (S. R), says that he is a young man of twenty-three years old. He says: In the past, I was negligent in performing the prayers, and even in fasting. Several months of Ramadan passed during which I fasted on some days without a valid religious excuse, but only out of negligence. Whenever I felt hungry or thirsty, I would break my fast. After Allah granted me repentance and guidance, and I realized the seriousness of this matter, I became consistent in prayer. But what pains me, O Shaykh, are the days of my life that have passed regarding those prayers and the days of fasting that I missed. How can I clear my conscience? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
It is obligatory for you, my brother, to repent to Allah. Praise be to Allah, as long as you have repented to Allah, felt remorse, ceased the sin, and made amends, that is sufficient, and praise be to Allah. You are not required to make up the prayers, nor to make up the fasts, because abandoning prayer is disbelief, and repentance is sufficient. It wipes out what came before it, as long as you have repented to Allah; for repentance wipes out what came before it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 4250Da’if (Darussalam).
Therefore, one who repented from abandoning prayer, and one who repented from abandoning fasting, has no obligation to make up the missed acts. As for the fasting that you abandoned after you had been consistent in prayer, if you missed some of the fasting after you had been maintaining your prayers, then you must make it up. But as for the fasting that you abandoned along with abandoning prayer, repentance is sufficient for it, praise be to Allah. However, if there are days of fasting that you missed after Allah granted you repentance from abandoning prayer, then you must make those up.
The presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
A brother from al-Qasim, whose name is indicated by the initials (S. R), says that he is a young man of twenty-three years old. He says: In the past, I was negligent in performing the prayers, and even in fasting. Several months of Ramadan passed during which I fasted on some days without a valid religious excuse, but only out of negligence. Whenever I felt hungry or thirsty, I would break my fast. After Allah granted me repentance and guidance, and I realized the seriousness of this matter, I became consistent in prayer. But what pains me, O Shaykh, are the days of my life that have passed regarding those prayers and the days of fasting that I missed. How can I clear my conscience? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
It is obligatory for you, my brother, to repent to Allah. Praise be to Allah, as long as you have repented to Allah, felt remorse, ceased the sin, and made amends, that is sufficient, and praise be to Allah. You are not required to make up the prayers, nor to make up the fasts, because abandoning prayer is disbelief, and repentance is sufficient. It wipes out what came before it, as long as you have repented to Allah; for repentance wipes out what came before it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Repentance wipes out what came before it
التوبة تجب ما قبلهاThe one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.
التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب لهTherefore, one who repented from abandoning prayer, and one who repented from abandoning fasting, has no obligation to make up the missed acts. As for the fasting that you abandoned after you had been consistent in prayer, if you missed some of the fasting after you had been maintaining your prayers, then you must make it up. But as for the fasting that you abandoned along with abandoning prayer, repentance is sufficient for it, praise be to Allah. However, if there are days of fasting that you missed after Allah granted you repentance from abandoning prayer, then you must make those up.
The presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.