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Making up missed prayers

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Askimam.org

My question is that if a person in his young days before 12 went to Madressah etc and received education and then moved to Western Europe and did not follow the religion. Did not pray JUMMAH and did not differentiate between halal and haram. Later 20 years later he started back in the religion and became a good Muslim does he have to pray all his missed prayers when he was totally out of the religion. Jazakhallah Khayr for your early answer

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

At the outset, we commend the person in reference on the steps he has taken to turn away from his past life of disobedience. He should consider it a great blessing that he was granted the tawfīq (opportunity) to repent and connect himself to the Deen of Allah Ta‘ālā. Many unfortunate people do not make tawbah (repentance) until it is too late. One should remain steadfast, and make du‘ā to Allah to keep him firm on His Deen.

Allah Ta’āla is All-Forgiving and Compassionate. When a person turns back to Him with sincere tawbah, He will most assuredly forgive him. If one has made sincere tawbah,  he should be sure of forgiveness. Allah Ta‘ālā says:

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيم 

Translation: Say: “O my slaves who have transgressed against their souls! Do not despair of the Mercy of Allah! Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Verily, He is All-Forgiving, Merciful.” (39:53)

Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam) said[1]:

كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ وَخَيْرُ الْخَطَّائِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ

Translation: “All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners are those who repent often”

It should be understood that the person in reference was still a Muslim in spite of him not fulfilling the injunctions of Islam. He did not forsake Islam. He was still a Muslim. As such, he is obliged to make up for the missed obligations.

As far as ones missed prayers are concerned, one must make up the Fard (compulsory) and Witr  prayers which he has missed since the age of maturity. If one is not able to calculate the precise number of missed prayers,  he should make an overestimate until he is convinced that he has missed no more than that number.[2]  For each prayer, he must make the intention of the first missed prayer of that particular Salāh that is due in his responsibility. For example, for each Dhur prayer that one makes up, make the intention of the first Dhur that one missed that yet remains in ones responsibility[3]. This should be done for all the prayers until one has completed the number of sallah’s that he has missed.

One method that can be helpful to use in order to complete this obligation is to offer each make-up (qadā’) prayer with the present prayer; for example, offer one missed Fajr immediately following the present Fajr, one missed Dhur  immediately following the present Dhur, and so on. Alternatively, one can spare a portion of each day to make up the missed prayers of one whole day. One may even select certain days in which he makes up the missed prayers. He should keep strict count of how many prayers he has made up until the number in ones estimate is completed.

One should continue making sincere Dua to Allah Ta’āla to keep him steadfast and firm on His Deen.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Abdullah Ghadai

Student Darul Iftaa
Michigan, U.S.A

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.


[1] مشكاة المصابيح (2/ 724)

وَعَنْ أَنَسٍ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ وَخَيْرُ الْخَطَّائِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ» . رَوَاهُ التِّرْمِذِيُّ وَابْنُ مَاجَهْ والدارمي

[2] من لا يدري كمية الفوائت يعمل بأكبر رأيه فإن لم يكن له رأي يقض حتى يتيقن أنه لم يبق عليه شيء

حاشية الطحطاوي على مراقي الفلاح، دار الكتب العلمية، ٤٤٧

[3] فإذا كثرت الفوائت يحتاج لتعيين كل صلاة يقضيها…فإذا أراد تسهيل الأمر عليه نوى أول ظهر عليه أدرك وقته ولم يصله.

مراقي الفلاح مع حاشية الدر، ٤٤٦

This answer was collected from Askimam.org, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Ebrahim Desai from South Africa.

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