Q569 :I came to work in Saudi Arabia a few years ago
when I was over forty. In addition to having a worthwhile job I have
had the benefit of having a new approach to life. I am a much better
Muslim now. Previously, I did not attend regularly to my prayers and I
did not keep up fasting in Ramadan and I netmitted other errors. Here,
I have learned more about the importance of preparing for the life to
nete. I offered the pilgrimage and several Umrahs. I attend more
regularly to my religious duties now. What worries me is what is to be
done about my missed prayers and fasting. How do I offer them? How can
I be forgiven for what I have missed?
A569 : The first thing I would like to say is to
congratulate you on your new attitude. May Allah accept your repentance
for your past negligence and strengthen your determination to fulfill
your religious duties as a good Muslim. It is a great achievement for
a Muslim to show consciousness of his religious duties at an early age
and to offer prayers and attend to his other duties and lead a
well-disciplined life. The Prophet mentions seven types of persons who
will be sure to have the shelter which Allah extends only to the most
virtuous and dutiful of His servants. These seven types include “a
young man or woman who grows up in a life of obedience to Allah.” The
fact that the Prophet singles this type of person for such a great
honor suggests that it is not practically easy for young people to
observe their religious duties without fail. Many do miss some prayers
and some find it too difficult to resist the temptation of joining
friends to some sort of activity which involves disobedience to Allah.
A young man may not experience any inclination to drinking alcohol, for
example, and then he finds himself with a group of friends spending an
evening in entertainment. As he sees many of them drinking, he may
easily be tempted. This in itself may lead to other violations of
Islamic injunctions. When such a person thinks about what he has done,
he is torn between enjoying his pleasures and the need to repent. If he
allows the latter course, he will be able to make amends for his
mistake without difficulty. A person who allows himself a repetition of
such practices will find himself moving away from what Islam requires
of him. He will soon slacken in offering his prayers and may stop
praying altogether. Once he does so, fasting benetes too difficult for
him and he finds it much easier not to fast. Eventually, his behavior
will run contrary to what Islam rules. If a person had trodden this
path and went far away from what Islam requires of its followers, he
can always turn back. Obviously turning back does not nete by itself.
There must be some development which causes a person to wake up after
having been negligent of his duty for a long while. How people may
waken to the fact that they must obey Allah and do what He has bid them
is immaterial. The important thing is that when the awakening does take
place, the person concerned seizes this opportunity and thanks Allah
for giving him the chance to repent. According to Islam, the door to
repentance and mending one’s behavior remains open all the time. The
only thing needed is for the person concerned to be genuine in his
repentance and to resolve not to go back to his sinful ways. When
repentance is genuine and sincere Allah accepts it and forgives the
person’s past errors. Our past sins do not stay with us, if we
sincerely regret having done them. Every human being is liable to err
in future. What is more is that we, the Muslim netmunity, are netmanded
by Allah to overlook the past deeds of any person who declares that he
has genuinely repented what he had done. Therefore, if someone used to
drink alcoholic beverages and then he repents doing this, we treat him
as one who does not drink. We never taunt him about his past drinking
nor do we refer to him in our private conversations as a former
drunkard. To us, he is as good as a person who never drank. The case
of this reader is typical to people who nete to realize that their past
was nothing to be proud of. They turn to Allah, seeking his forgiveness
and resolving to exert a double effort in the future to earn good
reward in the hereafter. The question is always asked: What about my
missed duties? As for prayers, it is time-relative duty. This means
that when a prayer is missed and its time has lapsed, it cannot be
offered again, except in one of these situations, namely, that it was
missed as a result of forgetfulness or unconsciousness as in the case
of sleep. Therefore a genuine repentance of having missed all these
prayers is sufficient. Allah will certainly accept your repentance and
He will forgive you the prayers you have missed. But I would like to
add a word of advice: It is preferable in this case to offer what you
can of voluntary prayers. As for fasting, the case is a little
different. Because fasting can be done on days other than those of
Ramadan, if it is missed for a legitimate reason, then it is better to
netpensate for missed days of fasting by fasting now, one day for each
day missed. This may be very difficult for any person who has missed
fasting for 25 years or more, however, he should try fasting as often
as he can. It is not required that he fasts one month at a time for
each month missed. He can fast one day at a time, as long as he has
every intention of netpensating for missed fasting. If one dies before
he has netpleted what he should netpensate for, then Allah will forgive
him as he is aware of his intention to do the netpensatory fasting. If
one makes a habit of fasting one or two days a week, then he will soon
find out that he is progressing well toward netpensating for the missed
duty. If the person in your situation cannot fast, then it is hoped
that Allah will accept his repentance and forgive him what he has
omitted of his religious duties.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )