What Is the Shafi‘i Ruling on Making Up a Missed Obligatory Prayer?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Question
What is the Shafi‘i ruling regarding making up for a missed congregational prayer?
Answer
In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, his Family, his Companions, and those who follow him.
Making up for a missed obligatory prayer after its time has passed has two scenarios:
Missed Due to a Valid Excuse
A valid excuse includes one of three causes, as mentioned in the hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas:
“My Umma is excused for mistakes, forgetfulness, and what they are coerced into,” recorded by Ibn Maja and authenticated by Ibn Hibban and Hakim.
The poet Ibn Raslan states in his Nadhm al-Zubad:
“There is no excuse for delaying it except for forgetfulness, sleep, or coercion.”
Imam Ramli says in “Fath al-Rahman”:
“No one among those obligated to pray has an excuse for delaying it beyond its time, so as not to lose the benefit of prescribed timings, except for the one who forgets.” He cited the hadith and continued, “Or one who oversleeps entirely, or is overcome by sleep, or assumes he will awaken in time to perform it.”
This is based on the hadith recorded by Muslim, where Abu Qatada narrates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “There is no negligence in sleep; rather, negligence lies with one who does not pray until the time of the next prayer arrives.”
However, if one sleeps after the prayer time has begun, knowing they will likely not wake in time, or is unsure of waking up with enough time remaining, this would be considered impermissible.
If such an excuse occurs, there is no sin upon the person, but they must still make up the prayer, though not immediately. This is based on the hadith, “Whoever forgets a prayer, let them pray it when they remember.” [Tirmidhi]
Missed Without a Valid Excuse
This could be due to preoccupation with other activities despite knowing the prayer time has started, laziness, or other similar reasons. Such an action constitutes a grave sin, and the individual must repent sincerely. They are also required to make up the missed prayer immediately.
We ask Allah to grant us steadfastness in observing our prayers on time and protect us from negligence, laziness, and preoccupation with worldly matters at the expense of our worship. Allah is the Guide to the right path.
[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Shaykh Dr Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib is a prominent Islamic scholar from Yemen born in Shibam, Hadhramaut, in 1976. He received his degree in Shari‘a from Al-Ahqaf University, a master’s degree from the Islamic University of Beirut, and a PhD in Usul al-Din from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
He studied under great scholars such as Shaykh al-Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Shaykh Fadl Ba‘ fadl, Habib Salim al-Shatiri, Habib Ali Mashhur bin Hafeez, and others. He has served as the Director of Publications at Dar al-Fiqh, the former Deputy Director of Cultural Relations at Al-Ahqaf University, a former Assistant for Employee Affairs at Atiyah Iron Company, a researcher at the Sunna Center affiliated with the Dallah al-Baraka Foundation, and a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch.
Currently, he is a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch, teaches traditionally through the Ijaza system at Dar al-Fuqaha in Turkey, supervises the Arabic department at Nur al-Huda International Institute (SeekersGuidance), and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Manuscript House in Istanbul.
His works include “The Efforts of Hadhramaut Jurists in Serving the Shafi‘i School,” “Contributions of Hadhramaut Scholars in Spreading Islam and its Sciences in India,” “Hada’iq al-Na‘im in Shafi‘i Fiqh,” in addition to verifying several books in Fiqh, history, the art of biographies, and Asanid (chains of narration).
