Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher
Although you may think you’ve answered this question many times before, my situation is different from what I’ve read. Before I received guidance from Allah(swt) I was a Muslim by name. My parents are Muslims but I’ve been raised in the west, went to public school etc. and wasn’t exposed to Islam truly. For example I don’t recall ever seeing my parents pray once until I was 18 years old and I asked my mom to show me how to pray, I never been to a mosque before then (except when we visited maybe a couple of times for historic places when on vacation), I don’t even remember saying the shahada in arabic until I began learning how to pray when I was ~18-although my parents are arabs. Another example is that I knew my parents said we had to fast so me and my siblings used to fast from sunrise until sunset…again it wasn’t until I was maybe ~18 when I became interested in Islam that I informed my parents about my discovery from reading that fasting is from DAWN to sunset. My point is that although I was Muslim by name I didn’t really understand Islam until later. I knew of Islam what I learned in public school like other non-Muslims like the 5 pillars etc.. So although I knew, that Muslims pray 5 times a day -that idea of it being sinful not to do so wasn’t instilled in me: I didn’t really understand the idea of disobedience to Allah, sins, and the need to fear and obey Allah (swt). My idea of religion was like those non-Muslims around me- I didn’t realize that it was a complete way of life. I remember once I would even joke about Isa(as) because I didn’t know that in Islam he was a prophet etc. So anyways I began making up fasts (because I used to eat until sunrise) and finished making them up alhumdulillah. Also I began making up prayers-but lately I’ve been wondering if I need to make the up. I mean it may be common knowledge among Muslims-but I don’t think that I knew then that praying was really important (because my family being probably the only muslims constantly around me didn’t pray or tell me to pray) or that not doing it is bad and that Allah might punish me-honestly I just never thought of those things. In many ways when I truly became Muslim I probably felt like non-Muslim converts feel when they first became Muslim. Should I still make up the prayers I missed or am I excused? I really want to spend my time reading Qur’an, learning how to pray sunnah prays etc…but I feel weighed down by not knowing if it’s wrong that I stop making up many years of prayer that I still have left. Is there any dispensation from any of the recognized madhhabs? PS. If I must still makeup prayers, Islamically when does puberty start?
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
assalamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh
I pray that this message finds you in the best of health and spirits. Congratulations on the positive turn that you have taken in your life! May Allah Most High bless you with continually increasing resolve and steadfastness on the path of guidance. Ameen!
Muslims who are raised far from scholars are excused for their ignorance of fine points of their religion, such as certain details of matters that invalidate the prayer, for example. Such matters would invalidate the prayer of a normal Muslim, but a Muslim who is raised far from scholars would be excused and would not have to make up their prayers.
There is a distinction, however, between fine details and central precepts. Ignorance of the former is overlooked by the sacred law, but ignorance of the latter is not. If, out of ignorance, such a person contravened a fine detail regarding the rules of prayer, they would not have to make up their prayers. If, however, they did not pray at all, then there is scholarly consensus that the missed prayers must be made up.
This does not mean that you were sinful in missing your prayers: if you had no way of finding out that it was obligatory for you to pray, then you are not considered like someone who deliberately does not pray in full knowledge that prayer is obligatory. However, it is still necessary to make up those prayers. This can be compared to the case where someone inadvertently damages someone else’s property: such a person would not be sinful because they damaged the property by mistake, but they would still be liable to repair the damage that they did. Missed prayers can be thought of as a “liability” that one owes to Allah Most High.
We should remember that we are slaves of Allah Most High. We do as we are told because He is our Lord and we are His slaves. Out of His generosity, He blesses us with closeness to Him if we do His bidding. The way to achieve closeness to Allah Most High is to strive to do what He wants of us, not what we want to do for Him. There is a famous hadith qudsi that beautifully explains this point:
It’s important at this stage of your life to learn the rulings of purification and prayer from a reliable source. Otherwise, you may find that the makeups that you are doing have mistakes in them. The Essentials of Islam courses at SunniPath Academy are a good place to start if you don’t have access to teachers where you live.
Regarding your final question, puberty for males begins when they first ejaculate semen (normally in a wet dream) and puberty for females begins when they first have a wet dream or when they first begin to menstruate. If, at the age of 15 lunar years, none of these signs have appeared, then that person will be considered to have reached puberty by the completion of 15 years.
I pray that Allah Most High facilitates the pathways of good for you in this life and the next.
And Allah Most High knows best.
Hamza.