Making Up Missed Prayers (Qada)

Missed through sleep or forgetfulness

Someone who slept through a prayer or forgot it is not sinful; he prays it as soon as he wakes up or remembers, even at a time when voluntary prayers are disliked. On a journey, the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions overslept until sunrise; he moved them a little away from the place, then had the adhan called and prayed Fajr (Sahih Muslim).

Missed on purpose

Delaying a prayer beyond its time without an excuse is a major sin, requiring sincere repentance. The majority of scholars hold that the prayer must still be made up; some scholars hold that repentance and many voluntary prayers take its place. Either way, the person resolves never to neglect the prayer again.

How to make up prayers

• Pray the missed prayer as it was obligatory: Fajr two rak‘ahs, Dhuhr four, and so on.
• A prayer missed while travelling is made up shortened, and one missed at home is made up in full, according to most scholars.
• Keep the order between missed prayers and the current one if they are few, according to the Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali schools, unless the current prayer’s time is about to end.
• Recite aloud or silently as in the original prayer.

Many years of missed prayers

Someone who neglected the prayer for years and has returned to it should estimate the number of prayers missed and make them up gradually, for example one or more missed prayers with each daily prayer, until he is reasonably sure his debt is paid. Above all, he should not despair: the door of repentance is open.

A realistic plan to repay a debt of prayers

Many people return to prayer after years and feel overwhelmed. A simple plan helps: pray one missed day with each day you live, and the debt of a year is paid in a year; pray two and it takes six months. Missed prayers can be made up at any hour, including after Fajr and Asr according to the majority, because they are obligations.

Keep a written record or a counter so that you know where you are. Combine this with sincere repentance, many voluntary prayers and patience: Allah loves the deeds that are continued, even if they are small (al-Bukhari, Muslim).

In brief

• A prayer missed through sleep or forgetfulness is prayed as soon as one remembers.
• Prayers missed deliberately require repentance and, for most scholars, making up.
• Each prayer is made up as it was missed.
• A regular daily plan helps to pay back years of prayers.
• Prayers missed during menstruation are not made up.

Read next

• Conditions, Pillars and Obligations of the PrayerThe conditions that must be met before praying, the pillars that make up the prayer, its obligations and the things that invalidate it, according to the main schools.
• How to Pray: the Salah Step by StepLearn how to pray salah step by step: intention, takbir, al-Fatihah, ruku‘, sujud, tashahhud and taslim, with the number of rak‘ahs of each prayer.