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I used to be astray. I have started practicing, and now have 20 years of prayers to make up…

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

I am extremely concerned about the terrible wrong I have done to my soul by abandoning the deen of Allah for a large part of my life. I have to all intents and purposes lived the life of a kaafir – drinking/ womanising etc…and am now greatly ashamed and regretful. Alhamdulillah, Allah has made me realise the error of my ways and I am now trying to address the situation.

I have missed and/or broken countless fasts in over 20 years and am extremely worried about how to go about making up for these. The same position is also applicable to my prayers and other religious duties (zakat) over this period of time. Can you give me a simple plan of how to start dealing with this frightening problem.  

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

Alhamdulillah. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said that, “The one who repents from sin is like the one who never sinned.” [Ibn Maja]

Regarding missed obligatory prayers and fasts:

a) make an honest and realistic estimate of how many prayers and fasts you have to make up;

b) then put together a daily schedule of makeup prayers (such as making up one missed prayer with each obligatory prayer one performs, or more if one has the energy and time) and a monthly schedule of makeup fasts that you are perform consistently.

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to say, “The most beloved of actions to Allah are those performed most consistently.” [Muslim]

See attached answer(s).

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
Faraz Rabbani.

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.