Question Summary:
my question is regarding qadha salaah, i have years of qadha salahs to make up as i was not practising before, and also qadha fasts,

Question Detail:

my question is regarding qadha salaah, i have years of qadha salahs to make up as i was not practising before, and also qadha fasts, ive only just started reading 5 times and my qadhas are from a period of 15 years please please help me because i dont understand how to make them up, how do i work it out? it will take me forever to make them up? i did use to pray but not 5 times i just want to make them all up but i cant remember so what will the ruling be? im very worried as i think Allah will not forgive me, im loosing sleep and im constantly worried about my qadhas, i request that you make duaa for me that A llah make it easy for me.

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
It is not necessary for a person who has Qada (missed) salat to remember the exact date when making up for the missed salat. Ulama suggest that if a person has several years of Qada Salaat and he does not remember the number of Salaat he missed, neither does he remember the time of the Salaats, then he should adopt the following method in completing his missed Salaats:
1)      It will suffice for a person to merely say in his intention that this is a qada of the first (or last) Salaat he missed. Example, he should make intention that he is making qada of the first (or last) Dhuhr Salaat which he missed. Once the qada of this Salaat is complete, the second Salaat which he missed will take the place of the first, and likewise when that is completed the third will now be the first; hence, on every prayer he can merely suffice by saying ‘Ya Allah, I am making the qada of the first (or last) prayer I missed.
2)      Instead of reading Nawaafil Salaat a person should pay more attention on his Qada Salaat first.
3.      A person should read at least one Qada Salaat with every Fard Salaat, by adopting this method Inshallah a time would come when all his Qada Salaat would be fulfilled.
(Fataawa Mahmoodiyah Vol 7, Pg364)
The same method should be adopted for Qada fast; for every fast missed, one should make the niyyah that this is his first (or last) fast which he missed. He should continue with this intention until he has total conviction that he has terminated all his Qadha fasts.
 
وأما النفل فقال في المضمرات : الاشتغال بقضاء الفوائت أولى وأهم من النوافل إلا سنن المفروضة
(رد المحتار ج2 ,ص74)
 
كثرت الفوائت نوى أول ظهر عليه أو آخره
(الدر المختار ج2 ,ص76)
 
من لا يدري كمية الفوائت يعمل بأكبر رأيه فإن لم يكن له رأي يقض حتى يتيقن أنه لم يبق عليه شيء
(حاشية الطحطاوى ,ص447)
 
وإذا كثرت الفوائت يحتاج لتعيين كل صلاة فإن أراد تسهيل الأمر عليه نوى أول ظهر عليه أو آخره وكذا الصوم من رمضانين
(نور الإيضاح - ص 100)
 
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Ml. Luqman Hansrot,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah