Should I Recite Silently When I Make up the Fajr Prayer?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I often wake up late. If I want to make up the Fajr prayer after I wake up am I to recite out loud or silently?

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

If and when praying alone, it is superior for men to replicate the congregational prayer by reciting in a slightly raised voice. The same applies to the makeup (qada’) prayer.

As for missing the prayer, you need to take more serious means to ensure that you wake up for the prayer on time, such as getting to bed soon after the nightfall (‘isha) prayer, using multiple alarms, and even asking others to wake you up, if necessary. Ask Allah Most High to make it easy for you.

Whoever does something with sincerity for Allah’s sake, He blesses them with facilitation.

[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah, with Tahtawi’s Gloss (1.346); Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar]

Please also see: A Reader on Missed Prayers and: Loud and Quiet Recitation in Prayer and Qur’anic Recitation

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.