She grew up stealing, and she doesn’t pray or fast, but she wants to repent

You mention a number of unlawful actions that you have committed, the most serious of which is not praying, because not praying altogether constitutes kufr (disbelief), according to the more correct of the views of the fuqaha’. See the answer to question no. 5208.

Stealing is a major sin, as is failing to fast or breaking the fast deliberately with no excuse.

What you must do is repent to Allah, may He be exalted, offer the prayers on time, fast Ramadan, and give up stealing.

All of that will be easy, in sha Allah, if you are sincere in your repentance to the Lord of the Worlds, and you are serious about giving up these evil actions.

Matters that will help you in that include the following:

1.

Knowing that Allah loves those who repent and accepts the repentance of those who regret their actions. He calls His slaves to repent, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed”

[an-Noor 24:31].

By His grace, Allah, may He be glorified, will turn the bad deeds of the one who repents to good deeds, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty –

Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated –

Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful”

[al-Furqaan 25:68-70].

So do not hesitate to repent, and do not think of the magnitude of the sin, for no sin is too great for Allah to forgive; He, may He be glorified, is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful, the Acceptor of repentance. He forgives kufr (disbelief) and shirk (association of others with Him) and lesser sins; He forgives a few sins and many sins, great sins and insignificant sins.

2.

Looking at the blessing that Allah has granted you by causing you to live until you can repent; he did not take your soul in death up till now, so hasten to repent and turn to Him.

3.

Looking at the evil of disobedience and its inherent abhorrent nature. It is evil and abhorrent in the sense that it is ingratitude for the blessing of Allah, and responding to His kindness by disobeying Him. How can a believing woman by happy that Allah sees her committing sin and not doing her religious duties towards Him?

4.

Looking for righteous company, and spending your time in doing acts of obedience and beneficial deeds. There is nothing more harmful to a person than bad company and wasting time in idle pursuits.

5.

Calling upon Allah a great deal in supplication and asking Him to guide you, to open your heart and to make you steadfast in obeying Him. You should understand that you do not have to make up what you missed of prayers and fasts, but you should do a lot of naafil (supererogatory) acts of worship.

With regard to the money and property that you took, you have to return it if you are able to do so. So try to figure out what you took, and return it by any means you can, without telling anyone about that.

If you are unable to do any of that, then it is a debt that you owe, and if Allah causes you to die before you return it to its owners, then if you have repented sincerely, there is the hope that Allah will pardon you and will compensate the owners of that property for their loss.

As this problem is one that is deeply rooted in your case, we advise you to consult a trustworthy psychologist to find out whether you need cognitive or behavioural therapy, or even medicinal treatment, if required.

We ask Allah to forgive you and pardon you, to rectify your condition and help you to obey Him.

And Allah knows best.