He used to masturbate and pray without doing ghusl – does he have to make up those prayers?
Question I used to masturbate since I reached puberty and I did not know that it is haraam, and I used to pray without doing ghusl. Now I have repented, praise be to Allaah. My question is: should I make up the prayers that I missed with every obligatory prayer, or should I offer them…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
Deliberately praying without having purified oneself is a
grave sin, and the one who does that comes under the same ruling as one who
does not pray, because he has failed to do something without which his
prayer is not valid.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The ruling
on not doing wudoo’ or ghusl in the case of janaabah, and not facing the
qiblah when praying, and not covering the ‘awrah, is the same as the ruling
on the one who does not pray. Similarly the ruling on not standing, bowing
or prostrating when one is able to do so is like the ruling on not praying.
End quote from al-Salaah wa Hukm Taarikiha, p. 42.
It seems from your question that you did not do ghusl in the
case of janaabah because you were unaware that it is obligatory. The
scholars differed concerning one who does that – does he have to repeat the
prayer or not?
This has been discussed in the answer to question no.
9446 and
45648.
If it never occurred to you that it is obligatory to do ghusl
after masturbating, then we hope that you do not have to make up the
previous prayers, but you have to repent and be righteous, and do a lot of
good deeds. Allaah say (interpretation of the meaning):
“And verily, I am indeed forgiving to him who repents,
believes (in My Oneness, and associates none in worship with Me) and does
righteous good deeds, and then remains constant in doing them (till his
death)”
[Ta-Ha 20:82]
And Allaah knows best.
