What Is Required If Someone Neglects Their Prayers for Months?

Answered by Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad

Question

What is the obligation of someone who neglected their prayers for a few months or more? What is your guidance and advice for them? If such a person were to pass away, should someone pray on their behalf, or should they leave instructions for this?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds. Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger sent as a mercy to the worlds, our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, and his Family and Companions.

Maintaining Prayers

There is no doubt that maintaining prayers on time is one of the most important characteristics of a Muslim. Allah (Most High) says:

“Indeed, performing prayers is a duty on the believers at the appointed times.” [Quran, 4:103]

It is forbidden to delay prayer beyond its designated time without a valid Islamic excuse, and in such cases, it becomes obligatory for the individual to make up for the missed prayers. In addition, repentance from this grave sin is necessary.

The jurists use as evidence the hadith of Anas (Allah be pleased with him), in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“Whoever forgets a prayer, let him pray it when he remembers it, for there is no expiation for it except that.” [Bukhari; Muslim]

The verse that supports this is:

“And establish prayer for My remembrance.” [Quran, 20:14]

If making up for missed prayers is obligatory for someone who forgot, for whom Islamic law provides many excuses, then it is even more obligatory for someone who deliberately missed them, as they have no valid excuse.

Scholarly Opinions on Missed Prayers

Imam Ibn Rushd says:

“As for who must make up missed prayers, the Muslims are unanimous that it is obligatory upon someone who forgets or sleeps through their prayer. They differed, however, regarding someone who deliberately misses the prayer or is unconscious… As for the one who deliberately neglects prayer until its time has passed, the majority agree that this person is sinful and that it is obligatory for them to make it up.” [Ibn Rushd, Bidayat al-Mujtahid]

In “al-‘Inaya Sharh al-Hidaya”, it is mentioned:

“If someone misses a prayer, whether intentionally or unintentionally, they must make it up when they remember it.” [Babarti, al-‘Inaya Sharh al-Hidaya]

Shirazi states:

“Whoever is obligated to pray but does not do so until the time has passed, is required to make it up. This is based on the statement of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):

‘Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, let him pray it when he remembers.’

It is recommended to make up the prayer immediately, as supported by the hadith we mentioned. If it is delayed, that is permissible, as it is narrated that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) missed the Fajr prayer but did not pray it until he left the valley. Had it been obligatory to make it up immediately, he would not have delayed it.

It is also recommended to make up missed prayers in the proper order, as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) missed four prayers on the day of the Battle of the Trench and made them up in order.

However, if the prayers are made up without order, it is still valid, as the obligation of order is tied to the specific prayer times and falls away once the time has passed.” [Shirazi, al-Muhaddhab]

Imam Nawawi states: “All reliable scholars have unanimously agreed that anyone who deliberately misses a prayer is obligated to make it up.” [Nawawi, al-Majmu‘]

The Hanbalis also hold the opinion that making up missed prayers is obligatory in all cases. Some scholars differed on whether this applies to deliberately missed prayers.

Mardawi says: “Whoever misses prayers is obligated to make them up immediately. This is the relied-upon opinion, and the majority of scholars support it, with many of them considering it definitive.” [Mardawi, al-Insaf]

Making Up Missed Prayers After Death

If a person who neglected their prayers dies without having made them up, is it permissible for someone to make up the prayers on their behalf, or offer a substitute (fidya)?

The majority of scholars, including the Malikis, Shafi‘is, and Hanbalis, agree that feeding the poor does not absolve the deceased from the missed prayers. However, the Hanafis hold that if a sick person dies and was unable to pray even by gesturing with their head, they are not required to leave a will for missed prayers.

If they were capable of praying by gesture and deliberately missed prayers without excuse, they are obligated to leave instructions for fidya (expiation) to be given. The fidya is taken from one-third of the deceased’s estate, with a specific amount given for each obligatory prayer.

There is explicit guidance regarding fasting in the hadith: “But someone should feed (the poor) on his behalf,” and by analogy, the Hanafis apply this to prayer, deeming it appropriate based on the opinion of the early scholars, as prayer is even more important than fasting. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Tahtawi, Hashiyat al-Tahtawi]

Important Note

Dr. Wahba Zuhayli critiques this Hanafi view by stating:

“The expiation for missed prayers and fasting should be taken from one-third of the deceased’s wealth. If there are no funds, the heir may borrow a half-sa‘ (a measure of grain) and give it to the poor. The poor person then returns it to the deceased’s heir, who donates it again, repeating this process until the necessary amount of missed prayers and fasts are expiated. However, such a procedure is essentially a legal trick and is not acceptable because prayer is a physical act of worship and cannot be fulfilled through empty formalities and rituals.” [Zuhayli, al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh]

Conclusion

Muslims must be diligent in observing their prayers on time. If some prayers are delayed beyond their proper time, it is obligatory to make them up along with sincere repentance and seeking forgiveness.

May Allah grant us the ability to fulfill what pleases Him, for He is Generous and Noble.

And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad

Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad, born in Damascus, Syria, in 1965, pursued his Islamic studies in the mosques and institutes of Damascus. A graduate of the Islamic University of Medina in 1985, he holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Bahauddin Zakariya University in Pakistan.

He has extensive experience developing curricula and enhancing the teaching of various academic courses, including conducting intensive courses. Shaykh Awad has taught Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Quranic sciences, the history of legislation, inheritance laws, and more at several institutes and universities such as Al-Furqan Institute for Islamic Sciences and Majma‘ al-Fath al-Islami in Damascus.He is a lecturer at the Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih Waqf University in Istanbul, teaching various Arabic and Islamic subjects, and teaches at numerous Islamic institutes in Istanbul.

Shaykh Awad is a member of the Association of Syrian Scholars, a founding member of the Zayd bin Thabit Foundation, a member of the Syrian Scholars Association, and a member of the Academic Council at the Iman Center for Teaching the Sunna and Quran.Among his teachers from whom he received Ijazat are his father, Shaykh Muhammad Muhiyiddin Awad, Shaykh Muhiyiddin al-Kurdi, Shaykh Muhammad Karim Rajih, Shaykh Usama al-Rifai, Shaykh Ayman Suwaid, Shaykh Ahmad al-Qalash, Shaykh Muhammad Awwama, and Shaykh Mamduh Junayd.