Answer
(Fatwa: 154/L=59/TL=1434)
Your friend is not right. Each and every wajib salah which is missed its qaza is necessary whether the man has missed it knowingly or unknowingly or while sleeping whether the missed salahs are few or more. It is proved from the saying and practice of the holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). It is narrated by Hadhrat Anas ibn Malik (رضي الله عنه) that the holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
من نسى صلاة فليصل إذا ذكرها لا كفارة لها الا ذالك .
“If anyone forgets a prayer he should pray that prayer when he remembers it. There is no expiation except to pray the same.” [Bukhari Sharif, Hadith No. 597]
While in Sahih Muslim the hadith of holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is narrated with the following words:
إذ ارقد أحدكم عن الصلاة أو غفل عنها فليصلها إذا ذكرها فان الله عزوجل يقول: أقم الصلاة لذكرى.
When anyone forgets the prayer, he should observe it when he remembers it, for Allah has said: “And observe the prayer for remembrance of Me”. [Sahih Muslim Hadith No. 1569]
Also it is mentioned in Sunan al-Nasai:
سئل رسول الله عن الرجل يرقد عن الصلاة أو يغفل عنها قال : كفارتها أن يصليها إذا ذكرها.
The holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was asked about the person who sleeps at the time of prayer or forgets it due to laziness. The holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: Its expiation is that he should offer it when he remembers it. (Sunan Nasai, vol. 1, p. 71, Bab Fi Man Nama An Salat)
In all these hadith the holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that if anyone forgets offering salah at its time then he should offer it when he recalls it, though it was missed due to negligence or sleep. Also the holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has done the same, at the time of Khandaq battle (Trench War) when some salah were missed by holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) then he offered all of them. The event of Khandaq battle is mentioned in all the hadith books in detail. On the basis of these hadith the scholars of Fiqh have explained that the qaza of missed salah is necessary.
Allah (Subhana Wa Ta’ala) knows Best
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband