Question: How can I make up a large number of missed fasts?
Answer:
Dear questioner,
Thank you for your important question.
May Allah reward you for your pious intentions and resolve.
As you know, these are fasts that you must make up (qada’), and making expiatory payments (fidya) will not suffice.
My advice is that you take some time out to calculate to the best of your ability how many fasts you have missed. Write down or create a document with this information then make a schedule for how you can gradually make up these fasts.
Take advantage of fasting on the blessed days such as; the tenth Muharram, the day of `Ashura, the six days of Shawwal, the first nine days of Dhu’l Hijjah, the white days, Mondays and Thursdays, and a number of other occasions.
Read about the merits of fasting from books such as “The Book of Fasting” from Imam al-Ghazali’s “Revival of The Religious Sciences”.
Pray the Prayer of Need (Salat al-Hajah) [see: How Does One Perform the Prayer of Need], and ask Allah, Most High for success.
Please see:
Remember that the most beloved deeds to Allah, Most High are those that are obligatory. By completing these missed fasts, you obtain the love of Allah, Most High.
May Allah, Most High reward you for your desire to perfect your relationship with him.
And Allah alone knows best.
[Ustadh] Omar Popal
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani