10 Evidences Against the Bid'ah of Qadā-e-ʿUmrī (Lifetime Missed Prayers)
Taken from: Fatāwā ad-Dīn al-Khāliṣ, Vol. 1, p. 201❖ Question:
Please explain the ruling on Qadā-e-ʿUmrī prayers. Is it a legitimate Shar‘i act or a bid'ah (innovation)? Some books of Fiqh, such as the commentaries of "Al-Hidāyah", mention a ḥadīth on this matter. What is the reality behind that narration?
❖ Answer:
Wa ʿalaykum as-Salām wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh!
Alḥamdulillāh, peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, and there is no might nor power except with Allāh.
✿ Qadā-e-ʿUmrī is a Heinous Innovation According to Sharīʿah
Qadā-e-ʿUmrī (making up all missed prayers in one's lifetime) is counted as a detestable innovation (bidʿah qabīḥah) in Islamic law.
Neither did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ever perform this act, nor did he encourage it, nor did he teach any method for it.
No Ṣaḥābī, Tābiʿī, or Imām of the religion has mentioned this practice.
Any act that bears such characteristics is classified as a bidʿah and misguidance, and anyone practicing it is to be regarded as a deviant, an innovator, and disrespectful toward the Prophet ﷺ.
✿ Authentic Hadith-Based Guidance
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
❝Whoever introduces something new into our religion that is not part of it, it is rejected.❞
❝Whoever does an act that is not in accordance with our religion, it is rejected.❞
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ 1/27)
✿ Statements of the Imāms of Islām on Bidʿah
Imām Mālik رحمه الله said:
"Whoever invents a bidʿah in Islām and thinks it is good has implied that the Prophet ﷺ betrayed the mission of Prophethood."
Imām Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr 6/156):
"Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamāʿah label any saying or act as a bidʿah which is not proven from the Ṣaḥābah. If it were a righteous deed, they would have preceded us in performing it, for they never fell behind in any good."
✿ Analysis of the Fabricated Hadith Regarding Qadā-e-ʿUmrī
Some people quote a narration from commentaries such as "Al-Munāyah" and "Al-Nihāyah" (explanations of Al-Hidāyah):
❝Whoever performs make-up prayers on the last Friday of Ramaḍān for missed obligatory prayers will have all his past prayers as well as 70 years of missed prayers forgiven.❞
The reality of this narration:
- It is not authentic, not even weak; it has no valid chain of narration.
- Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī رحمه الله, in Al-Mawḍūʿāt al-Kubrā (p. 74), declared it as "absolutely fabricated."
- It contradicts ijmāʿ (scholarly consensus) since:
❖ No act of worship can compensate for years of missed obligatory acts.
✿ Views of the Jurists and Their Limitations
The narrations quoted by commentators of Al-Hidāyah are not credible because:
- These scholars were not muḥaddithīn (Hadith experts).
- They did not mention any sanad (chain of narration) or original source.
"We say: Jurists—or self-proclaimed jurists—do not hesitate in falsely attributing statements to the Prophet ﷺ."
✿ Testimony of Imām Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله
In his book Al-Dirāyah fī Takhrīj Aḥādīth al-Hidāyah, he has documented the baselessness of such narrations.
✿ The Trial Resulting from the Bidʿah of Qadā-e-ʿUmrī
Because of this fabricated narration, people become careless in abandoning prayers, thinking:
"We will be forgiven through Qadā-e-ʿUmrī later."
This deception is the result of their invented beliefs:
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا لَنْ تَمَسَّنَا ٱلنَّارُ إِلَّآ أَيَّامًۭا مَّعْدُودَٰتٍۢ ۖ وَغَرَّهُمْ فِى دِينِهِم مَّا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ
"Their invented lies have deceived them in their religion."
(Āl ʿImrān: 24)
✿ Scholarly Views on Similar Bidʿāt
Aside from Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ and Ṣalāt al-Ḥājah, the following are also considered innovations:
◈ Ṣalāt al-Raghāʾib
◈ Ṣalāt al-Rajāʾ
◈ Prayer on the 15th night of Shaʿbān
◈ Fabricated night and day prayers
◈ Qadā-e-ʿUmrī prayers
➤ All of these are bidʿah and have no basis in Sharīʿah.
✿ References:
- Al-Mawḍūʿāt by Ibn al-Jawzī رحمه الله (2/111–146)
- Al-Manār aṣ-Ṣaḥf by Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله (p. 95)
- Ḍiyāʾ al-Nūr (p. 204)
- At-Tibyān by Shaykh ʿAbd al-Salām Rustamī رحمه الله (p. 197)
✿ Clarification Regarding the Quote of Ibn ʿĀbidīn رحمه الله
Some cite a statement from Ibn ʿĀbidīn (1/542):
"If someone performs Qadā-e-ʿUmrī despite not having missed prayers, it is not makrūh, as he is acting out of caution."
Commentary on this:
This is a misguidance:
Ibn ʿĀbidīn cites this from an unknown source.
➤ Obligatory prayers that have already been performed according to their conditions cannot be repeated as make-up. Doing so is a bidʿah and a misguidance.
If this were not bidʿah, then no innovation would remain unchallenged in the religion.
✔ Conclusion:
There is no Sharʿī basis for the practice of Qadā-e-ʿUmrī.
Acting upon it is misguidance, a bidʿah, and contrary to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
After the Sunnah, only bidʿah remains; after truth, only misguidance.
❖ Hādhā mā ʿindī, wallāhu aʿlam biṣ-ṣawāb.
(Tuesday, 10 Rabīʿ al-Awwal, 1415 AH)
