I Wasn’t Praying on Time. Were My Good Deeds Valid?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I have fed poor people for the expiation of an oath at a time in which I did not pray properly. Was my expiation accepted?

I am basing my doubt upon the Hadith that states that a person deeds are not accepted if he missed the Asr prayer.

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

If you paid the expiation for the oath in an acceptable manner [see: Expiation for a Broken Oath], the duty to expiate would be lifted from you.

As for the tradition (hadith) regarding the nullification of works found in Bukhari and elsewhere, it refers specifically to the loss of reward for missing the ‘Asr prayer.

But you also need to repent for your wrongdoing, namely, for delaying prayers without legitimate excuse, or missing them altogether; and in the latter case, by making them up.

Please also see: A Reader on Tawba (Repentance) and: Does Failing to Pray Asr Cancel All Our Good Deeds?

And Allah Most High alone 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 memorised 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.