❀ Perform Missed Salah Immediately Upon Remembering ❀
Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
✿ Importance of Promptly Performing Missed Salah ✿
➊ Narration from Hazrat Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
فإذا نسى أحدكم صلاة أو نام عنها فليصلها إذا ذكرها
[Muslim 681, Kitab al-Masajid wa Mawadiʿ al-Salah: Bab Qadaʾ al-Salat al-Faʾitah; Abu Dawood 438; Nasai 1/294; Tirmidhi 177; Ibn Majah 698; Ahmad 5/298; Ibn Khuzaymah 2/95; Ibn Jarood 153; Daraqutni 1/386]
“If any one of you forgets a prayer or sleeps through it, he should offer it as soon as he remembers.”
➋ Narration from Hazrat Anas رضي الله عنه:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
من نسى صلاة فليـصـلـهـا إذا ذكرها لا كفارة لها إلا ذلك
[Ahmad 3/269; Bukhari 597, Kitab Mawaqit al-Salah: Bab Man Nasiya Salatan Falyusalliha Idha Dhakara; Muslim 684; Tirmidhi 178; Ibn Majah 696; Nasai 1/293; Abu Dawood 442; Abu Awanah 1/385; Darimi 1/280; Ibn Khuzaymah 993; Bayhaqi 2/218]
“Whoever forgets a prayer should perform it when he remembers, for there is no expiation other than this.”
➌ Narration from Hazrat Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever forgets to perform a prayer should offer it when he remembers,” because Allah the Exalted has said:
أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِي
[Surah Ta-Ha: 14]
“Establish prayer for My remembrance.”
[Muslim 680, Kitab al-Masajid; Abu Dawood 435; Nasai 1/296; Ibn Majah 697; Abu Awanah 2/253; Bayhaqi 2/217]
◈ Legal Inference and Scholarly Position
From the implied meaning of these Hadiths, it is understood that a person who intentionally abandons Salah cannot make it up (Qada), because this is a firmly established principle in Islamic jurisprudence:
انتفاء الشرط يستلزم انتفاء المشروط
“The absence of a condition necessitates the absence of what is conditioned.”
Thus, if a person does not forget the prayer, he will not perform it as Qada. This is the position adopted by Imam Ibn Hazm رحمه الله.
This also proves that:
✔ A person who forgets or sleeps through the prayer must offer it immediately once he remembers, without any delay, because that is considered its time of performance.
✔ It also indicates that in both these states (sleep or forgetfulness), a person is not held accountable, as is established from the collective understanding of these narrations.
[Nayl al-Awtar 1/486–488]
