Source: Fatāwā Arkān-e-Islām
❖ Question
If a person deliberately misses a prayer and later repents to Allah ﷻ, is it obligatory for him to make up those missed prayers (qaḍāʾ)?
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
If someone deliberately abandons prayer and then repents and returns to Allah ﷻ, the scholars differ regarding whether making up those missed prayers is obligatory.
❖ Two Scholarly Opinions
➊ First Opinion:
Some scholars hold that it is obligatory to make up the missed prayers. That is, the person should compensate for the deliberately missed prayers through qaḍāʾ.
➋ Second Opinion:
Other scholars maintain that making up the missed prayers is not obligatory, because once the time of prayer has passed and the prayer was deliberately abandoned, making it up brings no benefit.
❖ The Preponderant (Rājiḥ) View
In my opinion, the correct view is the one chosen by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله, who stated:
“Whoever deliberately abandons a prayer until its time passes, making it up will not benefit him.”
❖ Evidence for This View
✿ An act of worship that has a fixed time must be performed within that time.
✿ Just as prayer cannot be validly performed before its prescribed time, likewise, it cannot be validly performed after its time has expired.
✿ It is obligatory to observe the limits set by Allah ﷻ.
✿ The Lawgiver (Shari‘ah) has made prayer obligatory and fixed its time, specifying:
“Prayer is to be offered from such-and-such time until such-and-such time.”
✿ Just as prayer is invalid in a place unsuitable for prayer, it is also invalid outside its prescribed time.
❖ Importance of Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness
Therefore, one who has abandoned prayer must engage in abundant repentance (tawbah) and seeking forgiveness (istighfār), along with performing other righteous deeds. It is hoped that Allah ﷻ will forgive this shortcoming.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
