Do You Have to Pray Make Up Prayers in Order?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question

I pray this finds you in the best of iman and health,

Is it true that if one does not pray their witr, then Fajr salah will not be valid? And thus one has to read their witr before they pray their Fajr? If so what if one has a few witr qada salahs to do from the past which may have been missed – does that mean fajr salah will be invalid if they are not performed before one prays their fajr salah?

Answer

I pray that you are well, insha’Allah.

According to the Hanafi school, if one has less than six prayers (salat) in one’s dues, it would be obligatory to maintain order between them. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; ‘Ala al-Din ‘Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya]

On the other hand, if one has six, or more, prayers (for example: Fajr, Dhuhr, ‘Asr, Maghrib, ‘Isha and Fajr) in one’s dues, it would not be obligatory to maintain the order between them.

Practically, if there are less than six prayers between one’s missed prayer and one’s current prayer, it would be obligatory to maintain the order.

Therefore, having makeups (qada) of previously missed prayers in your dues (i.e. and more than six prayers have past) will not affect the validity of your current prayers.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam,

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorized the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan, and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.