Calculating Qaza Salah

Assalamu Alaykum

I have only been regular and punctual in my 5 daily prayers for the last 1 year. Before this I used to pray now and again, i.e. when I was home I would pray, but when at school/work/football/with friends I used to miss prayers on some occasions. How can I calculate the prayers that I need to make up as I do not know the exact amount?

Please pray that Allah grants me Istiqamah in performing the 5 daily prayers on time.

Jazakallah Khair.

الجواب بعون الملك الوهاب

Wa laykum as Salam,

The method of calculating the prayers that one may have missed in the past is to calculate estimation in ones heart as to how many prayers he may have missed up until the heart’s content. A very question was posed to Sayyidi Ala Hazrat alayhir rahmah, Huzoor Mufti e Azam alayhir rahmah records in Al Malfuz Al Shareef as follows:

QUESTION: Respected Sir! Worldly transactions have held me so much so that I cannot perform my past Qada Salaah. I intend to do it daily but I fail. Can I first pray all my Fajr Qada, then Zohr, then Asr? Is there any harm in performing them in this order? I also cannot recall how many of my Salaah are Qada. What should I do in this case?

ANSWER: It is compulsory to perform all Qada Salaah as quickly as possible. One cannot say when death will come. There is no difficulty in performing 20 Rakaats daily (2 Fajr, 4 Zohr, 4 Asr, 3 Maghrib, and 7 for Esha, i.e. 4 Fard and 3 Witr.) One can perform this Salaah anytime of the day after sunrise, sunset and Zawaal. One has the option to read all the Fajr Qada first, then Zohr, Asr, and Maghrib and Esha, or each one for a day. A maximum estimate record of all the Qada must be made and performed accordingly. It is better to read more than the estimated Rakaats, but not less. If one daily reads in this manner then all Qada will eventually be completed. So, do not delay or be lazy to complete them. No Nafil Salaah is accepted if one has Qada of any Fard Salaah.

Niyyah for Qada Salaah can be performed in the following manner. Say you have 100 Fajr Qada. Every time you perform one Qada, say, “I intend to perform my first Fajr Qada.” In this way you will perform them all. The same method may be used to complete all Qada Salaah. If one has a lot of Qada to complete, then one must perform them quickly. One may recite Subhaan-Allah (سبحان الله) 3 times instead of Sura Fateha only in the empty Rakaats (the third and fourth Rakaats in 4 Rakaat Fard (i.e.Zohr, Asr and Esha) or the third Rakaat in 3 Rakaat Salaah (Maghrib). There is no harm if one reads one Tasbeeh instead of three in the Ruku and Sojood. The Fard will be completed. One may read this Darood Shareef (Salawaat) اللهم صل على سيّدنا محمد و آله in Tashahud instead of the complete Darood-e-Ibraheem. In Witr, read رب اغفري once instead of the complete Du’a-e-Qonoot.

One can read Qada Salaah 20 minutes after sunrise and 20 minutes before sunset. It is not permissible before or after these times. One must also perform this Salaah in secrecy, as the exposure of sins in public is not permissible.

Say if one has about 40 or 50 years Qada, one has to give up his entire daily routine to complete this important task. If such a person has to die within a month or so in this engagement, then the ultimate Mercy of the Compassionate Lord will complete the remainder of one’s Salaah. The Merciful Allah I states,

*ومن يهاجر في سبيل الله يجد في الارض مراغما كثيرا وسعة. ومن يخرج من بيته مهاجرا إلى الله و رسوله ثمّ يدركه الموت فقد وقع اجره على الله وكان الله غفورا رحيما *

“He who forsakes his home in the cause of Allah Ta’ala, finds in the earth many a refuge, wide and spacious: should he die as a refugee from home for Allah Ta’ala and His Messenger (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) his reward becomes due and sure with Allah Ta’ala, and AllahTa’ala is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.”

The general rule is mentioned in this Ayah. Even if one takes a single step out of his home and dies, then complete Thawaab will be noted in one’s Book of Records. Here the intention will be taken into account. Every action is based on good intentions. The Hadith Shareef states,

*إنما الأعمال بالنيات *

Indeed, all actions are based on one’s intentions.

(Al Malfuz Al Shareef by Ala Hazrat alayhir rahmah pg 86)

May Allah Subahanu Wa Ta’ala grant you success to swiftly carry out your remaining salah, Aameen.

Mufti Sufyan Qadri (Leicester, UK)