Dought & clear - • They lived under Communist rule and did not know anything about praying and fasting; do they have to make it up?.

I am a Muslim woman from Bulgaria. We were living under Communist rule
and we did not know anything about Islam; in fact many acts of worship
were banned. I did not know anything about Islam until I reached the
age of twenty, and after thatI began to adhere to thelaws of Allah.
My question is: do I haveto make up what I missed of prayer and fasting?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
We praise Allah for saving you from unjust and oppressive communist
rule after it suppressed the Muslims for more than forty years, during
which mosques were destroyedand some were turned into museums, Islamic
schools were abolished and they strove to change Muslim names and wipe
out Muslim identity.
"but Allâh will not allow except that His Light should be perfected
even though the Kâfirûn (disbelievers) hate (it)" [al-Tawbah 9:32 –
interpretation of the meaning].
Communist rule, with its tyranny and oppression, ended in 1989, to the
great joy of the Muslims, who went back to their ancient mosques,
which they refurbished and renovated. They went back to teaching their
children Qur'aan and thehijab of Muslim women appeared again in the
streets. We ask Allah to bring the Muslims back to their religion in
the best way and to support them and grant them victory and defeat
their enemies.
Secondly:
A generation of Muslims grew up in Bulgaria under the oppression of
Communist rule and theydid not know anything about Islam apart from
the fact that they were Muslims. The communist regime prevented them
from learning Islam and even banned the import of the Holy Qur'aan and
Islamic books into Bulgaria.
Those who did not knowanything about the rulings of Islam and Islamic
worship and other duties are not obliged to make up any of those acts
of worship. If the Muslim was not able to acquire Islamic knowledge
and the rulings of sharee'ah did not reach him, then he isnot obliged
to do anything because Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation
of the meaning):
"Allâh burdens not a person beyond his scope"
[al-Baqarah 2:286].
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
There is no difference of opinion among the Muslims that if a person
was living in dar al-kufr (non-Muslim lands) and he believed but he
was unable to migrate (to a Muslim land), he is not obliged to observe
Islamic rituals and laws that he is unable to; rather he is only
obliged to do what he is able to. The same applies to matters
concerning which he did not know the rulings. If he did not know that
prayer was obligatory for him and he did not pray for a while, he does
not have to make up those prayers according to the more correct of the
two scholarly opinions. This is the view of Abu Haneefah and the
literalists, and it is one ofthe two views of the madhhab of Ahmad.
The same applies to all the other duties such as fasting the month of
Ramadan, paying zakaah, and so on.
If he did not know that alcohol is haraam and hedrank it, then he is
not to be subjected to the hadd punishment, according to Muslim
consensus. They only differed with regard to whether he has to make up
the prayers…
The basic issue with regard to all of this is: are the laws obligatory
for one who did not know them or is it the case that no one is under
any obligation until after he comes to know?
The correct view concerning this matter isthat there is no obligation
to adhere to a ruling unless there is the possibility of acquiring
knowledge thereof, and nothing hasto be made up if it was not known
that it is obligatory. It is proven inal-Saheehthat some ofthe
Sahaabah ate after dawn in Ramadan until they could tell the white
thread apart from the black thread, but the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) did not instruct them to make up those
fasts. Some of them usedto remain in a state of janaabah (impurity
following sexual activity or nocturnal emissions for which ghusl or
full ablution is required) for a while and not pray; they did not know
that itis permissible to pray with tayammum (dry ablution) – as
happened to Abu Dharr, 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab and 'Ammaar. But the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not instruct
anyof them to make up the prayers.
No doubt some Muslims in Makkah and in the wilderness continued to
pray facing towards Jerusalem until news reached them that that had
been abrogated (and the qiblah had been changed to the Ka'bah), but
they were not instructed to repeat those prayers. And there are many
similar examples. This reflects the principle that the early
generation and themajority of scholars followed, namely thatAllah
burdens not a person beyond his scope. Things are only obligatory when
one is able to do them, and thepunishment only applies when one fails
to do something that is enjoined or does something that is forbidden,
after proof has been established. End quote.
Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 19/225
Based on that, you do not have to make up anyof the acts of worship
that you did not know were obligatory.
Our advice to you is to focus on learning the rulings of Islam and
gaining understanding of the religion; try hard to learn Islam and
followit, and teach the next generation of Muslims, so that they will
be able to face the challenges that face all Muslims, andespecially in
your country.
We ask Allah to cause Islam and the Muslims to prevail.
And Allah knows best.