BISMILLAHIR-RAHMAANIR-RAHEEM

Qada' Salaah :
“So woe unto those performers of Salaah (prayers) (hypocrites),

Those who delay their Salaah (prayer from their stated fixed times)”

[Surah Al-Maa’oon 107:4-5]

[The continuous practice of the Prophet [Peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] was
to pray the prayers at the beginning of their times. This was practiced by him throughout
his life. None who is versed in the sunnah differs over this. There are number of sayings
from him [Peace be upon him] that prove this, such as his saying,

“THE BEST ACTIONS IS THE PRAYER AT ITS CORRECT TIME.” ] (#1)

Narrated Umm Farwah [May Allaah be pleased with her]:

The Apostle of Allah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was asked: Which deed
is best? He replied: “Prayer offered at the beginning of its time.”

[Sunan Abu Dawood: Book: 2, Number: 426] (#2)

(#3)
Question : How can he make up for missed prayers?. [islamqa : 111783]

Answer : Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

Allaah has allocated specific times for acts of worship for reasons that are known to Him. We know some of
them, but some of them are hidden from us. Whatever the case, we are enjoined to adhere to them and it is not
permissible to transgress against that except for reasons permitted in sharee’ah.

If a person misses the prayer, one of two scenarios must apply:

1–

He missed it for a reason, such as falling asleep [though intended to wake up before the prayer time is due]
(#3) or forgetting it. There is no sin on him in this case, but he has to make it up when he wakes up or
remembers it.

It was narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever forgets a prayer, let him offer it as soon as he remembers, for there is
no expiation for it other than that.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (572) and Muslim (684); Muslim narrated an
additional phrase: “or sleeps and misses it”.

Muslim also narrated (684): “If one of you sleeps and misses a prayer, or forgets it, let him offer the prayer
when he remembers, for Allaah says ‘and perform As-Salaah (Iqaamat-as-Salaah) for My remembrance’ [Ta-
Ha 20:14].”

2–

He missed the prayer with no excuse; rather he ignored it until the time for it ended [such as intentionally
not waking up for FAJR before sunrise](#4), out of laziness and carelessness. This person is sinning
according to the consensus of the Muslims, and has committed a major sin.

It is not valid for him to make it up according to the more correct of the two scholarly opinions, rather
he has to repent and regret it, and resolve not to do that again, and he should do a lot of good deeds and
offer a lot of voluntary prayers.

Ibn Hazm said:

As for the one who deliberately omits to pray until the time for the prayer ends, he can never make it up, so he
should do a lot of good deeds and offer a lot of voluntary prayers, so that his balance (of good deeds) will
weigh heavily on the Day of Resurrection, and he should repent and ask Allaah for forgiveness. End quote.

Al-Muhalla (2/235).

This is also the view of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab and his son ‘Abd-Allaah [ibn ‘Umar] (#5), and of Sa’d ibn Abi
Waqqaas, Salmaan, Ibn Mas’ood, al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, Badeel al-‘Aqeeli, Muhammad
ibn Sireen, Mutarrif ibn ‘Abd-Allaah and ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez. It was also the view of Dawood al-
Zaahiri and Ibn Hazm, and was the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah and al-Shawkaani.
Among contemporary scholars it was regarded as more correct by al-Albaani, Ibn Baaz, Ibn ‘Uthaymeen and
others.

They quoted as evidence the following:

(i)

The words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, As-Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours”

[al-Nisa’ 4:103]

They said: There is a set time for prayer and it is not permissible to do it at any other time except with
evidence.

(ii)

The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Whoever forgets a prayer, let him
offer it as soon as he remembers, for there is no expiation for it other than that.”

The words “let him offer it as soon as he remembers, for there is no expiation for it other than that” mean: If
he is slow in offering the prayer after he remembers it, then it is not an expiation, so how about the one who
neglects it deliberately without forgetting or sleeping? It is even more likely that it will not be an expiation in
that case, and making it up will be of no benefit.

(iii)

Because Allaah has allocated a specific time for each obligatory prayer, specifying the beginning and end
thereof, so it is as if it is not valid to do it before that time just as it is not valid to do it afterwards.

Al-Muhalla (2/235).

(iv)
Ibn Hazm said:

Also, making it up should be based on evidence, and it is not permissible for anything to be prescribed other
than by Allaah on the lips of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). We ask those who
say that the one who deliberately omits the prayer is obliged to make it up to tell us about this prayer that you
are telling him to do – is it the prayer that was enjoined by Allaah or some other prayer? If they say it is the
one that was enjoined by Allaah, then we say to them: Then the one who deliberately omits it is not a sinner,
because he has done what Allaah commanded him to do and there is no sin according to what you say, and
there is no blame on the one who deliberately omits to pray until the time for it ends. But that is something
that no Muslim can say. If they say that it is not the prayer that Allaah has enjoined him to do, then we say:
You are right, and that is enough, because they have admitted that they told him to do something that was not
enjoined by Allaah. End quote.

Al-Muhalla (2/236).

Those who say that he has to make it up did so by analogy with the one who forgets or falls asleep, and they
said that if the one who forgets has to make it up, then it is more likely that the one who deliberately omitted it
should do so.

My response is that there is no comparison between the two scenarios, because the one who omits it
deliberately is sinning, which is not true in the case of the one who forgets, so how can an analogy be drawn
between the one who is sinning and the one who is not sinning?

Al-Shawkaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

Ibn Taymiyah said: Those who disagree – i.e., those who say that he should make up the prayer – do not have
any proof to support their argument. Most of them say that he does not have to make it up unless there is a
clear command (based on evidence), but there is no such command in this case. We do not disagree that it is
obligatory to make it up; rather we disagree as to whether the made-up prayer will be accepted from him and
whether prayer offered at the wrong time is valid. He discussed this matter at length and he favoured the view
that was mentioned by Dawood and those who agreed with him, and the matter is as he put it, because I made
a thorough study of this matter and I did not see any reliable evidence that obliges the one who misses a
prayer deliberately to make it up.

Nayl al-Awtaar (2/26).

The more correct view – and Allaah knows best – is that the one who deliberately omits the prayer
should not make it up, rather he has to seek forgiveness and repent.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) discussed this issue at length and examined the evidence of
both sides in his useful book al-Salaah (p. 67-109).

Note: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:

The scholars who say that he should make up the prayer do not say that by making it up he is absolved of sin,
rather they say that by making it up his burden of sin is reduced, but the sin of missing and delaying the prayer
beyond its prescribed time is like any other sin, it needs either repentance or good deeds that will erase it or
other things that will waive the punishment. End quote.

Minhaaj al-Sunnah (5/233).

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islamqa : 20013

what is meant by making up prayers (qada’) is doing the prayer after the time for that prayer is over. The
made-up prayer may be either fard (obligatory) or naafil (supererogatory).

Fard prayers: The Muslims must pray regularly at the times defined by Allaah for each prayer. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, As-Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours”[al-Nisa’ 4:103]

Delaying the prayer until its time is over without a reason or excuse is haraam, and it is a major sin.

If the Muslim has an excuse, such as sleeping [though intended to wake up before the prayer time is due]
(#6) or forgetting, and he was not able to do the prayer on time, then he must make up the prayer when that
reason no longer applies, even if that is at one of the times when prayer is disallowed. This is the view of
the majority of scholars. See al-Mughni, 2/515.

The evidence for that is the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Whoever
sleeps and misses the prayer or forgets it, let him pray it when he remembers.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 597;
Muslim, 684)

Naafil prayers: the scholars differed with regard to making them up at times when prayer is disallowed. The
correct view is that they should be made up. This is the view of al-Shaafa’i (may Allaah have mercy on him).
See al-Majmoo’, 4/170. It was also the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have
mercy on him), as stated in al-Fataawa, 23/127. This is indicated by a number of ahaadeeth, such as:

The report narrated by al-Bukhaari (1233) and Muslim (834) from Umm Salamah (may Allaah be pleased
with her), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed two rak’ahs after ‘Asr, and she
asked him about that. He said: “Some people from ‘Abd al-Qays came to me and distracted me from praying
two rak’ahs after Zuhr, so I did them now.”
Ibn Maajah (1154) narrated that Qays ibn ‘Amr said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
saw a man praying two rak'ahs after he had prayed Fajr prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said, “Are you praying Fajr twice?” The man said to him, “I did not pray the two rak’ahs that come
before it, so I prayed them now.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) remained silent.
This was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah (984). Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said: the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) remained silent
indicates that it is permissible. (al-Mughni, 2/532).

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islamqa : 13664

With regard to missing prayers, one of the following two scenarios must apply:

1 – When you miss a prayer unintentionally, for a legitimate shar’i excuse, such as forgetting or sleeping ,
although you are basically very keen to perform the prayer on time. In this case you are excused but you have
to make it up as soon as you remember it. The evidence for that is the hadeeth narrated in Saheeh Muslim
(681) which tells how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) [during a journey, when it was
near dawn, appointed someone and said: “Guard for us our prayers.” Then the Prophet [Peace be upon him]
(#7) and his companions slept and missed Fajr prayer, and the Sahaabah began to ask one another, “What is
the expiation (kafaarah) for what we have done by neglecting the prayer?” The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said. “Sleeping does not mean that you are neglecting the prayer. Rather
neglecting [cognizable negligence of] the prayer means [intentionally] not praying one prayer until the time
for the next prayer comes. Whoever does that [i.e. omitted prayer in sleep or due to other unavoidable
circumstances] let him pray when he remembers it, and on the next day he should observe it at its
prescribed time”. [Saheeh Muslim Vol :1, Book No:4, Hadeeth No: 1450]

[Cognizable: capable of being perceived or known.] (#8)

This does not mean that a person should sleep deliberately when a prayer is due, until he misses it, then
use sleep as an excuse [e.g. not waking up for Fajr before sunrise ] (#9), or neglect a means that would
help him to do the prayer, and then take that as an excuse. Rather he must make use of all the means he can
[eg., using alarm clock or asking someone to wake up] (#10), as the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) did in this case, when he appointed one person to stay awake and wake them up to pray, but that
person was overcome by drowsiness, so he did not wake them up. This is the case in which a person may be
excused.

2 – When you miss a prayer deliberately. This is a major sin, and it is so serious that some of the
scholars stated that the one who does this is a kaafir. (as it says in Majmoo’ Fataawa wa Maqaalaat
Samaahat al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 10/374). The one who does this has to repent sincerely, according to
scholarly consensus. With regard to making up the prayer, there was a difference of opinion among the
scholars as to whether or not it would be accepted from him if he makes it up afterwards. Most of the scholars
said that he should make it up and that his prayer is valid, although he is a sinner (i.e., if he does not repent –
and Allaah knows best), as Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthyameen quoted from them in al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/89. The view
favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) is that it is not valid, and that it
is not prescribed for him to make it up. He said in al-Ikhtiyaaraat (34): “It is not prescribed for the one who
misses a prayer deliberately to make it up, and the prayer, if he makes it up, is not valid; rather he should do a
lot of voluntary (naafil) prayers. This is the view of a group among the Salaf.” One of the contemporary
scholars who regarded this view as more correct is Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him);
he quoted as evidence for that the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
“Whoever does an action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), will have it rejected.”
(Agreed upon).

So you must beware of this and strive to perform all the prayers on time, as Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“Verily, As-Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours”

[al-Nisa’ 4:103]

# : inclusions for better understanding.

(#1)Dr.Saalih ibn Ghaanim al-Sadlaan’s book: Congregational Prayer: pg.no:151.

(#3) Congregational Prayer: pg.no:10-11.

#3:1 – Al-jaami’ li-Ahkaam al-Qur’aan (11/123) by al-Qurtubee.

#3:2 –Sunaan of ibn Abee Haatim. However, the recording by ibn Maajah has been graded hasan by al-
Albaani [Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo]

Dr.Saalih ibn Ghaanim…Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University.

His eminence, Sheikh Abdul Azeez bin Baaz…

Grand Muftee: Saudi Arabia [Head: Senior Scholars Committee.

President: Permanent Committee For Islamic Research And Fatwaa.
President: Muslim World League.
President: Higher world league Council.
President: Islamic Jurisprudence Assembly Makkah.
President: Islamic University Madeenah
World Supreme Council For Mosques.]