Years of missed prayer? and not knowing how to read Arabic?

Question

Assalamulaikum, backstory: So in my family when I was young I was sent to Arabic studies but my family had financial problems and problems with the arabic tutor apparently so I didnt learn how to read Arabic, I know about 4 Surah's and was not taught how to pray. I reached puberty at 12, and when I was about 18/19 I started pushing myself to learn how to pray. I learned from the internet, and seeing others, but my arabic pronounciation isn't that good since I memorise transliteration of Surahs (as I cannot read Arabic)

I have missed approx. 8 years of prayer

Does sunnah and nafl prayers still count if you have 8 years of prayers you haven't made up for? How can I make up for the prayers because on rough calculations I have 50,000 prayers to make up.

Jzk

Answer 1

You don't have to make up Sunnat and Nafl rakats, only Farz, because those are obligatory whereas the rest are additional good deeds but not required.

It is bad to delay prayers, but offering them late is better than never offering them at all.

Proceed with a strategy: Everyday offer double prayers. e.g each day offer:

Fajr: 2 Sunnat, 2 Farz and 2 Qazah of last due Fajr
Zuhr: 4 Farz and 4 Qazah of last due Zuhr
Asr: 4 Farz and 4 Qazah of last due Asr
Maghrib: 3 Farz 3 Qazah of last due Maghrib
Isha: 4 Farz, 3 Witr, 4 Qazah of last due Isha

Follow this and in 8 years you would have cleared your backlog, without straining yourself or giving up. If you can triple it you will finish in four years, and if you can quadruple it then you will finish it in 2 years.