Do I have to make up my missed prayers in my childhood? What if they equate to many years of prayer missed? If so, can I still pray voluntary prayers?

Quran

Hadith

Islamic Text

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most Merciful Most Kind

Short Answer

Praise be to Allah, and His Salutations and Peace be upon our Master Muhammad ﷺ, his believers and Companions.

Yes, it is an obligation to make up any missed prayers, without a genuine reason, after the moment a person entered adolescence (bulugh). All the spare time, besides what is required for daily necessities, should be spent in making up these prayers, and it is not permitted to occupy their time with voluntary prayers.

Explanation

ِAllah, Exalted is He, states in Al-Qur’an (an-Nisa,103),

إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَوْقُوتًا

“Surely, Prayer is prescribed for the believers at set times”

Allah, Exalted is He, states in Al-Qur’an (al-Ma’un, 4-5),

فَوَيْلٌ لِلْمُصَلِّينَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ

“Woe to those who pray, those who are heedless of their prayer”

The verses from the Holy Qur’an describe the obligation of the five daily prayers, as well as admonishment and a warning to those who do not pray correctly or on time as some of the scholars of tafsir have explained.

Imam al-Bukhari (d.256AH), may Allah have mercy on him, reports in his Sahih (1/574/no.406),

حدثنا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ وَمُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، قَالَا: حَدَّثَنَا هَمَّامٌ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: “مَنْ نَسِيَ ‌صَلَاةً فَلْيُصَلِّ إِذَا ‌ذَكَرَهَا، لَا كَفَّارَةَ لَهَا إِلَّا ذَلِكَ. وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِي

Abu Nu’aym and Musa ibn Isma’il narrated to us, saying: Hammad narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Anas, from the Prophet (peace be upon him), who said: Whoever forgets a prayer, let him pray it when he remembers it, for there is no expiation for it except that. {And establish the prayer for My remembrance}. [Quran 20:14].”

It is evident from this narration that a person must pray a prayer that they have missed.

Our scholars have stated that the obligation of prayer becomes relevant the moment a child moves into adolescence, known as bulugh. After this moment, it is an obligation upon every individual to offer the five daily prayers within their prescribed time. It is prohibited to allow even a part of the prayer to fall outside of the prescribed time.

There are, however, circumstances whereby one who has missed a prayer will not be sinful, due to a genuine reason recognised by the Sacred Law, but they will still need to make up the prayer, such as one who sleeps through an entire prayer time (excluding Jumu’ah Prayer) prior to its entrance or a woman who believed she was menstruating but within a limited period of time it became apparent that she was not but she had consequently missed a number of prayer due to the former belief. These reasons would be considered genuine and recognised by the Sacred Law.

As for being tired, lazy, not finding an ideal place to pray, or being ignorant, these are not valid reasons for missing prayers. Regardless of whether a prayer is missed, genuinely or not, it must be made up. The difference between that missed with a genuine reason and not is that the former need to be made up prior to one passing away with no sin whereas the latter must be made up immediately and one is sinful.

Shaykh’ul-Islam Zakariyya Al-Ansari (d. 926AH), may Allah have mercy on him, states in Asna’al-matalib (1/169),

(وَيَجِبُ ‌قَضَاءُ ‌فَوَائِتِ ‌الْفَرَائِضِ)
لِخَبَرِ الصَّحِيحَيْنِ «مَنْ نَامَ عَنْ صَلَاةٍ، أَوْ نَسِيَهَا فَلْيُصَلِّهَا إذَا ذَكَرَهَا» ، ثُمَّ إنْ
فَاتَتْ بِغَيْرِ عُذْرٍ وَجَبَ قَضَاؤُهَا عَلَى الْفَوْرِ وَإِلَّا نُدِبَ

“(And it is obligatory to make up for missed obligatory prayers) based on the authentic narration found in both Sahihs: “Whoever oversleeps and misses a prayer or forgets it, let him pray it as soon as he remembers.” Then, if the prayer was missed without a valid excuse, it must be made up immediately; otherwise, it is recommended.”

Shaykh Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974AH), may Allah have mercy on him, states in Tuhfat’ul-muhtaj (1/440),

بَلْ لَا يَجُوزُ كَمَا هُوَ ظَاهِرٌ لِمَنْ عَلَيْهِ ‌فَائِتَةٌ ‌بِغَيْرِ ‌عُذْرٍ أَنْ يَصْرِفَ زَمَنًا لِغَيْرِ قَضَائِهَا كَالتَّطَوُّعِ إلَّا مَا يُضْطَرُّ إلَيْهِ لِنَحْوِ نَوْمٍ، أَوْ مُؤْنَةِ مَنْ تَلْزَمُهُ مُؤْنَتُهُ، أَوْ لِفِعْلِ وَاجِبٍ آخَرَ مُضَيَّقٍ يُخْشَى فَوْتُهُ

“Rather, it is not permissible, as is evident, for someone who has a missed prayer without a valid excuse to spend time on anything other than making it up, such as performing voluntary prayers, except for what is necessary, like sleeping, providing for those he is obliged to support, or performing another time-constrained obligatory duty that he fears missing.”

The above is the sound position of the Shafi’i school and upon it fatwa is given. Now, circumstances of people may prove to be difficult at times where they cannot give up all their time to make up for their missed prayers immediately. In the case, where this can prove to be genuinely difficult, and a person has taken all the means possible to free up their time, some of our scholars in the Shafi’i school have stated that rather than it being an obligation to make up the prayers immediately, it is recommended; therefore, one has until their death to ensure they make up their missed prayers.

Imam an-Nawawi (d.676AH), may Allah have mercy on him, states in al-Majmu’ (3/69),

وإن ‌فوتها ‌بلا ‌عذر فوجهان كما ذكر المصنف أصحهما عند العراقيين أنه يستحب القضاء على الفور ويجوز التأخير كما لو فاتت بعذر وأصحهما عند الخراسانيين أنه يجب القضاء على الفور وبه قطع جماعات منهم أو أكثرهم ونقل إمام الحرمين اتفاق الأصحاب عليه وهذا هو الصحيح لأنه مفرط بتركها ولأنه يقتل بترك الصلاة التي فاتت ولو كان القضاء على التراخي لم يقتل

“And if one misses it without a valid excuse, there are two opinions, as mentioned by the author. The more correct opinion among the Iraqis is that it is recommended to make it up immediately, but it is permissible to delay it, similar to if it was missed with an excuse. The more correct opinion among the Khurasanis is that it must be made up immediately, which many or most of them affirm. Imam al-Haramayn reported consensus among the companions on this. This is the correct view because the person is negligent in leaving it, and because one is executed for missing the prayer that was missed. If making it up could be delayed, they would not be executed.”

I will close this answer with reminding myself and all that prayer should not be taken lightly and that a Muslim should strive their upmost to ensure that all the five obligatory prayers are prayed on time, and if any have been missed, then all efforts are exhausted to ensure they are all fulfilled prior to meeting our Lord, Exalted is He.

And Allah Most High knows best.

Written by,
Mohammed Jamili
7th Muharram 1446
Manchester, UK