Full Lecture Transcript (Cleaned)
The Question — 0:00
Sister Sania asks: she says she had not been practicing Islam for many years and did not pray regularly. Now she has repented to Allah and wants to know what is to be done regarding all the years of salah she has not prayed.
The Two Opinions — 0:42
Yasir Qadhi notes that this question genuinely deserves a longer, more detailed treatment, but he will give the summary here.
There are two scholarly opinions on this issue.
First opinion: She must repeat (make up via qada) every missed prayer, to the best of her capability.
Second opinion: Once those prayers are gone, they are gone. The time for them has passed. What is required now is sincere repentance.
Yasir Qadhi's Advice — 1:02
If she is able to make them up, she should do so. Making up the prayers removes the disagreement entirely — even those who hold the second opinion would still say repentance and extra good deeds are needed alongside the qada.
If it is genuinely not feasible — if there are so many years of missed prayers that making them all up is simply not a realistic possibility — then she may follow the second opinion. This requires:
- A sincere repentance to Allah, meaning she must feel genuine regret and remorse
- Increased istighfar — asking Allah's forgiveness internally from the heart and externally on the tongue
- A clear change in lifestyle that demonstrates she recognizes how much good she has missed in those years
- Increased acts of sadaqa — taking care of the poor, feeding the hungry, and general charitable giving
- Extra nawafil and Sunnah prayers as a means of making up what was lost
Conclusion — 2:30
Both opinions are valid and have been held by major scholars. If you are able to make them up, do so — you get out of the khilaf (scholarly disagreement) and still receive the reward. If you cannot feasibly do so, repent sincerely, change your life, increase your good deeds, and ask Allah's forgiveness. And Allah knows best.