Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalam alaikum,

My age is 40.From the age of 12 yrs till 25 i have performed salath (namaz) irregularly. Since the age of 25 yrs i am regularly performing salath. Now is it necessary for me to perform those salaths that i missed? or i shall continue these salaths regularly. I think" if i seek Allah`s excuse for forgiving me for those salaths i missed and continuing these present prayers only" then it will be nice for me and it will be ok. Please guide me.

Please reply soon.

Allah Hafez.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Missed Pryaers

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 103:

Indeed the Salaat is a prescribed duty that should be performed by the believers at (their) appointed times.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 45-46:

45 Nay seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and ‘salaah’: it is indeed hard except to those who bring a lowly spirit.

46 Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord and that they are to return to Him.

The Prophet (saws) said, "The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and the top of its hump is Jihad in the Way of Allah."

Jabir reports that the Prophet (saws) said, "Between a person and disbelief is discarding prayer."

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'Aas reported that the Prophet (saws) one day mentioned the prayer and said, "Whoever guards and observes his prayer, they (his prayers) will be a light and a proof and a savior for him on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever does not guard and obvserve them, they will not be a light or a proof or a savior for him. On the Day of Resurrection, he will be with Qarun, Fir'aun, Haman and Ubayy ibn Khalf."

Related by Ahmad, at-Tabarani and Ibn Hibban.

Your Question: Now is it necessary for me to perform those salaths that i missed?

Dear and Beloved Sister, the salaahs that you missed are a debt which you owe unto your Lord; and just like any debt, you may strive your utmost to pay it, or you could get it forgiven.

Dear and Beloved Sister in Islam, Our Lord is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful and he forgives everything when one does sincere Taubah and turns to him in repentance. Regardless of what one might have done (or not done) in ones past, if one turns in sincere repentance to their Lord before their appointment of death, and makes a solemn covenant with Him to amend their conduct, it is expected that he will find his Lord Forgiving and Merciful.

Thus beloved sister, regardless of how many of the obligatory prayers you might have missed in your past life; turn to your Lord in sincere repentance and strive to devoutly obey his every Commands from this day forward; it is expected that your Lord will completely forgive you for shortcomings and not hold you accountable for the missed prayers of the past. If you still want to compensate for your missed obligatory prayers, you could increase your voluntary or ‘nafl’ prayers which one prays after the obligatory prayers. If Allah Wills, they should compensate for the missed prayers.

Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "The first thing that the people will be called to account for on the Day of Resurrection will be the prayers. Our Lord will say to the Angels although He knows better: 'Look into the ‘Salah’ of My servant to see if he observed it perfectly or been negligent in it.’ So if he observed it perfectly it will be recorded to his credit, but if he had been negligent in it in any way, Allah would say: ‘See if My servant has any supererogatory (nafl) prayers.’ Then if he has any supererogatory prayers, Allah would say: ‘Make up the deficiency in My servant's obligatory prayer with his supererogatory prayers.' Thereafter all his actions will be examined in like manner"

Related by Abu Dawud.

Taubah or sincere repentance is a deed, that completely wipes out all our evil deeds done in the past, provided we make a solemn covenant with Allah that we will try our best to abide by His commandments in the future.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:

When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

The opinion of the majority of the scholars in Islam is that if one has missed one’s obligatory duties like prayers or fasts a very long time ago and if one has sought repentance for missing one’s obligatory duties, their repentance itself would suffice and Allah Subhanah, from His Vast and Endless Mercy and Grace, will forgive them their negligence and not hold them to account for their temporary lapse on the Day of Judgment, provided they amended their conduct after their repentance and fulfilled their prescribed duties.

But if one so fears Allah, and is so repentant over his/her negligence at missing out on such an important and obligatory duty in one’s past and wishes to make amends; then one should make up those missed prayers over a period of time as an atonement of their missed prayers. And the best way to do that would be to pray double prayers, one for the current obligation and one for the past, at every time of prayer. This would be considered the best form of ‘tawbah’ or what Allah Subhanah Declares in the Quran as ‘tawbatan-nasoohah’ (absolutely sincere repentance).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 66 Surah Tahreem verse 8:

8 O ye who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance (tawbatan-nasoohah): in the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow the Day that Allah will not permit to be humiliated the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their Light will run forward before them and by their right hands while they say "Our Lord! perfect our Light for us and grant us Forgiveness; for Thou has power over all things."

We reiterate again that seeking repentance alone would suffice to obliterate the sin of missing one’s obligatory duties which one missed a long time ago; but if one so fears Allah and His Accounting, and wishes to make absolutely sure and desires to make ‘tawbatan-nasoohah’, then it would be best to offer those missed prayers over a period of time which is convenient and easy for them; and that would be the best and purest form of manifesting one’s repentance to their Lord Most Gracious.

Your Question: I think" if i seek Allah`s excuse for forgiving me for those salaths i missed and continuing these present prayers only" then it will be nice for me and it will be ok.

Dear and Beloved Sister, your Lord is indeed very Forgiving and Merciful, and He accepts the sincere repentance of His believing and repentant slaves. If you turn to Him in absolute humility and fear seeking sincere forgiveness for missing your obligatory duties of the past, it is expected that you will find your Lord Forgiving and Merciful.

If you think or feel that it would be a burden and absolutely difficult for you to offer ‘double’ prayers as an atonement for your missed prayers, then at least increase your ‘nawafil’ or supererogatory prayers as much as you can; it is expected that Allah Subhanah will make up the deficiency. That in our humble opinion would be a better form of manifesting one’s sincere repentance to their Lord Most Gracious.

Beloved Sister, whichever of the three options you wish to take, make absolutely sure and make a solemn covenant with your Lord Most High, that from this day forward, unless and until it is a life and death situation, never ever will you intentionally miss to fulfill any of His obligatory Commands and Duties.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan