Ruling on Making Up Sunnah Mu’akkadah Prayers After Their Time Has Passed
Taken from: Fatawa Arkan al-Islam
❖ Question:
Can Sunnah Mu’akkadah prayers be made up if their time has already passed?
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾammā baʿd!
Yes. If Sunnah Mu’akkadah prayers are missed due to a valid reason — such as sleep or forgetfulness — they can be made up later. This is supported by the general statement of the Prophet ﷺ:
«مَنْ نَامَ عَنْ صَلَاةٍ أَوْ نَسِيَهَا فَلْيُصَلِّهَا إِذَا ذَكَرَهَا»
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Mawāqīt, Bāb Man Nasiya Ṣalātan Fal-Yuṣalli Idhā Dhakarahā, ḥadīth no. 597; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Masājid, Bāb Qaḍāʾ aṣ-Ṣalāh al-Fāʾitah, ḥadīth no. 684 [315])
“Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, its expiation is to offer it when he remembers it.”
❖ Example from the Practice of the Prophet ﷺ:
It is narrated from Umm Salamah رضي الله عنها that once the Prophet ﷺ missed the Sunnah after Ẓuhr due to being occupied, and he made them up after ʿAṣr:
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb as-Sahw, Bāb Idhā Kallama wa-Huwa Yuṣallī fa-Ashāra Biyadihi wa-Istamaʿa, ḥadīth no. 1233)
❖ Deliberately Missing Sunnah Mu’akkadah:
If someone deliberately leaves Sunnah Mu’akkadah until its time passes, then it should not be made up. The reason is:
✿ Sunnah Mu’akkadah belongs to those acts of worship that have fixed, prescribed times.
✿ If such time-bound acts are intentionally missed, they are not accepted afterward.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
