Waleed Basyouni – After A Long Time Of Not Praying Do I Have to Re-Take My Shahadah

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, welcome to a

new episode of Ask the Imam, a program

that we host at the Clear Lake Islamic

Center.

You can see the answers to your questions

on our YouTube channel.

If you want to ask a question, send

us an email at asktheimam, one word, at

themasjid.org.

That is asktheimam at themasjid.org.

As-salamu alaykum, Sheikh Waleed.

Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

I hope that your cough is good.

This is a double shot espresso.

I love it.

Nice.

Yes, it is good.

Okay.

Now, this is a long question, and I

actually, when I read the question, I spent

some time reading it.

If he would like to come and talk

to us one-on-one, that would be

really a very good idea.

We would like to meet this brother.

His question, he's an old man, he's in

his 60s.

Now, he is in a lot of distraught

and a lot of anxiety and distress because

he thinks that it's too late for him.

He has missed many years of prayer.

He said that he was born into Islam,

then he became an atheist, according to him,

when he was 13.

Then when he was 14, he took his

shahadah again and became Muslim, but he never

prayed.

So he, missing a lot of prayers, he

said, is it okay to restate my shahadah?

What do I do with all these prayers

that I have missed, that I can't even

count?

And he's really heartbroken about this, and it's

like a one page, a complete page of

explaining his emotions.

And we would like to really meet with

him, but what can you, in the meantime,

what can you tell this brother?

First of all, I would like to say,

Nabi ﷺ said, regret is a form of

tawbah, an-nadam tawbah.

You know, when you have a dead wound,

when you touch it, it doesn't hurt.

You don't feel it.

This is dead.

But when you touch it and it hurts,

it means it's still alive.

So what you're feeling, that feeling of guilt

and regret and fear, that shows that your

heart is alive, full of life.

And alhamdulillah, there is iman in it.

And that's a very good sign.

Not only that, that this iman is strong

enough to take you to take a step,

which is to do one of the greatest

acts of worship, which is to repent to

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

You know, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told

the believers, he called upon the believer, utubu

ila Allahi jami'an ayyuhal mu'minoon, to repent

to Allah.

All of you, the believers, he called the

believer to repent to Allah.

So those who answer this call are believers.

And also, la'allakum tifrihoon, la'alla in

Quran it means you will.

You will achieve success.

So that's a guarantee from Allah subhanahu wa

ta'ala that you will achieve success by

repenting to Him.

Also, Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is so happy

with your repentance, when you repent to Him,

more than the person who is in the

desert, lost his camel, lost his, and this

camel loaded with all his food and drink,

and he was completely, you know, by himself,

and he thought that he was going to

die.

So he said, let me die in peace

underneath this tree.

And all of a sudden, he found his

camel right next to his head when he

woke up.

He was so happy with it.

Imagine how happy this person is.

You think that he's the luckiest person in

the world.

You see how much happiness this person has?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is happier than

that, when you go back to him.

And he doesn't need you.

This person needed the camel, Allah subhanahu wa

ta'ala doesn't need you.

But still, he's so happy that you came

back to him.

So I want you to keep that in

mind.

Yes, leaving the salah is a great sin.

As a matter of fact, the debate is

the person who leaves the salah is Muslim

or not Muslim.

And that's something that you should be very

careful about, anyone listening to me.

You don't want to be in a position

where a Muslim is saying, are you Muslim

or a kafir?

You know, nobody who has a common sense

would like to be in that position.

So leaving the salah is a very, very

serious sin.

Going back to the salah, alhamdulillah, it is

a sign of tawbah.

So even if somebody will consider leaving the

salah completely, abandoning the salah for years like

this, not being Muslim, you start in praying

again, you don't need to redo your shahada.

You starting the salah again, it's basically renewing

your Islam.

And according to...

That's repentance.

That's repentance.

According to the scholar who believe that leaving

salah is kufr, they said how to go

back to Islam is by stop praying, like

the hanabira, for example.

Those who said it's not a kufr, but

it is a minor kufr, not a major

one, does not take you out of the

fold of Islam, they said your repentance and

declaration of repentance is enough.

I do believe that also you don't have

to make up the prayer for these years.

But what you need to do is to

make sure that you are so committed to

your prayer now.

And go on.

And increase it.

And increase also your volunteer prayers.

So, and I have something to share with

this brother as well.

That in the day of judgment, Allah bring

his servant close to him.

And he will show him the record of

his deeds.

And he see these small sins.

And he said, I'm done, I'm gonna go

to * fire.

I didn't even see the big ones yet.

And Allah said, what do you have to

say?

He said, nothing, I admit I was wrong.

Like you admitting now, my brother.

Allah said, I cover you in the dunya,

and I'll cover you today, I'm not gonna

expose you.

And every sin, I will forgive it, and

give you instead of it, a reward.

Then he would say, by the way, there

is also bigger ones, don't say that.

Allah will laugh, and Nabi shallallahu alaihi wa

sallam will laugh.

And he said, and all of them as

well.

So, yes, I know it's heavy.

But if you're sincere in your tawbah in

the day of judgment, I hope Allah subhanahu

wa ta'ala, you will be among those

who Allah said in the Quran.

Those Allah will replace their sins to good

deeds.

So, have strong hope, trust in Allah subhanahu

wa ta'ala.

And a commitment to pray on time, to

make your salah good, excellent, and to increase

your volunteer prayers.

JazakAllah khair.

You know the ayah says, illa man ta

'aba wa aamana wa aamila wa aamila aamana

sarih.

Which means it's the combination of these three.

Repentance, and firm belief, and then to continue

with the good deeds.

Your lifestyle has to change.

Exactly.

JazakAllah khair.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your questions.

We'll see you next episode.