Are My Makeup Prayers Invalid Because I Didn’t Pray the Current Prayer in Time?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

I have unfortunately made the mistake of failing to uphold prayers on time. I tried, but yesterday I faltered. I have repented. I struggle with waswas, which typically makes my salah take longer, and I end up restarting or repeating a lot.

I have read that it is best to pray them in sequence under six unless the current prayer will exit, so I tried to do as many as I could before the current one while allotting what I thought was enough time. My waswas got the better of me, and I failed to get that current prayer after I faltered and invalidated it. I have also read that that which keeps us from our obligations becomes haram. Are my qada prayers still valid despite being prayed in the window in which I failed to offer that respective prayer?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

Yes, your makeup prayers were valid because they fulfilled all the conditions and integrals for the validity of the prayer. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]

In your situation, you simply have delayed the current prayer beyond its time, and you will have to make it up after its time.

Please read the following regarding the order between the prayers to understand the rulings in this situation properly: Do You Have to Pray Make Up Prayers in Order?

When Is It Not Mandatory to Maintain Order between the Prayers?

Maintaining the order is no longer mandatory in one of three situations:

1. If the entire time of the currently prescribed prayer is about to expire (In which case, one prays the currently prescribed prayer before making up the missed prayer),
2. Forgetfulness of the missed prayers,
3. If the number of missed prescribed prayers, excluding witr, becomes six or more.  [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Sa‘adat; Faraz Khan, Ascent to Felicity]

And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then, he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.