What if one misses prayers
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam
Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and
Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Dear Brother,
Thank you first of all for taking the time to answer all the
questions asked about Islam, it is very helpful. I have a
question regarding Namaz. If you miss your Fajr prayer can you still do
your Namaz after the prescribed time i.e. if the correct time is
Thank you once again for your great efforts and may Allah reward
you manyfold for it.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
What if one misses prayers
In the name of Allah, We
praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah
guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide
them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person,
no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Unless
it is a life and death situation, or
something that is beyond ones control like oversleeping, etc. one is not allowed to miss any of their
‘fard’ or obligatory prayers. If one
regular misses a ‘fard’ prayer without a valid reason, it is a huge sin in Islam. The prayers are a duty prescribed by Allah
that must be prayed on time.
Allah says in
the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 103:
Indeed the
Salaat is a prescribed duty that should be performed by the believers at
appointed times.
Q-1: If you miss your Fajr
prayer can you still do your Namaz after the prescribed time i.e. if the
correct time is
Abu Qatadah related that sleeping through the prayer time was
mentioned to the Prophet (saws), and he said, "There is no negligence in
sleep, but negligence occurs while one is awake. If one of you forgets a prayer or sleeps through its time, then he should pray it when he remembers
it."
Recorded by an-Nasa'i and at-Tirmidhi,
Anas related that the Prophet (saws), said, "Whoever forgets
a prayer should pray it when he remembers it, and there is no expiation for it
save that." Related by al-Bukhari
and Muslim.
Reported 'Imran ibn Husain, "We went with the Messenger of
Allah during the night. When the last
portion of the night came, we became tired and fell asleep. We did not wake until we felt the heat of
the sun. Some of us tried hurriedly to
purify ourselves. The Prophet ordered
us to be calm. Then we rode on until
the sun had risen, and we made
ablution. He ordered Bilal to make the
call to prayer, and then prayed two rak'ah before the (obligatory) morning
prayer. Then we stood and prayed.”
In light of the above
traditions, if one forgets or
oversleeps the time for fajr prayer, he
should pray when he remembers it (making sure that the sun has completely
risen).
Q-2: Also if you
miss your Asr prayer which is for example at
Again, if one misses the Asr prayer,
he should pray as soon as he remembers it. If one remembers the missed Asr prayer, just before the Isha prayer, then he should pray the Asr prayers, then the Magrib prayers (if he has not
prayed it), and then the Isha prayers. One should always pray in the sequence of the prayers.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in
Islam,
Burhan
Wister