Is It Necessary for Me to Pay Zakat, Perform Missed (Qada’) Prayers, and Fasts for the Years I Did Not Practice Islam?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I was born into a family where we considered ourselves “Muslims by the name.” Still, we didn’t do daily prayers, were quite secular, and didn’t take practicing Islam seriously, especially me.

I went to a Sunday Islamic school for a few months as a 7-year-old but did not learn how to pray correctly or do much else there (I don’t remember if I said the shahada with conviction or not). I did not practice Islam after that except for occasional Jumu‘a with my dad until six years ago at age 24, when I learned how to pray and said the shahada with my own will.

Do I owe Zakat, fasting, and prayer from when I turned baligh until I started practicing at 24?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

Yes, you will need to pay your owed Zakat if your wealth was above the threshold (nisab) during the past years and perform the missed (qada’) prayers and missed (qada’) fasts of Ramadan.

You will rejog your memory and guess when you became mature and morally responsible (mukallaf) and see if you had wealth above the threshold each year and whether you owed Zakat. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Calculate

I advise you to take some time to calculate to the best of your ability how many prayers and fasts you have missed; overestimate a little. Record or document this information, then make a schedule to make up these prayers and fasts gradually. You will add the witr prayer along with the fard prayers.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction, in sha’ Allah.

Related:

• Zakat: How to Calculate & Whom to Give 
• SeekersGuidance Zakat Calculator
• Fasting: A Comprehensive SeekersGuidance Reader
• The Path of Muhammad: Birgivi’s Manual of Taqwa Explained. [Lecture Series]

Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?

I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.