It is said that there is no qada (missed) prayer in the Quran and hence there is no prayer called qada prayer. Is it true? Will you explain it with fiqh evidences?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Although not all Islamic decrees exist in the Quran, the practices of the Prophet (pbuh) show us that there is qada (missed) prayer. The Prophet (pbuh) himself performed qada prayers.

During the Battle of Khandaq, the polytheists prevented the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) from performing four prayers; even some part of the night passed. Finally, the Messenger of Allah ordered Bilal to call adhan. Bilal called adhan and then iqamah. They performed the noon prayer. He called iqamah again and they performed the afternoon prayer. He called iqamah again and they performed the evening prayer. He called iqamah again and they performed the night prayer. Abu Said al-Khudri narrates that the following verse was sent down at that time:

"And Allah turned back the Unbelievers for (all) their fury: no advantage did they gain; and enough is Allah for the believers in their fight. And Allah is full of Strength, able to enforce His Will." (al-Ahzab, 33/25)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated the following in order to express that a believer will be regarded as excused only in two cases when he misses a prayer:

"If anyone who falls asleep or forgets to perform a prayer, let him perform it when he remembers it." (Tirmidhi, Salah, 16, Mawaqit, 53; Ibn Majah, Salah, 10)

According to the majority of the Islamic fiqh scholars, it is fard to perform a fard prayer that is missed as qada. Since qada is necessary even when one is excused due to sleeping or forgetting, it is also necessary for those who do not perform prayers in time without any excuse. Besides, it is necessary to repent and ask forgiveness from Allah due to performing the prayer late. Repentance without performing a missed prayer as qada will not be valid. (Ibnul-Humam, Fathul-Qadir, Egypt 1389/1970, I, 485 ff; Ibn Abidin, Raddul-Muhtar alad-Durril-Mukhtar, Istanbul 1984, II, 62-67)

According to Abu Bakr Ibnul-Arabi, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed the morning prayer as qada three times in journeys with the Companions. One of them took place when they were returning from the Battle of Khaybar. According to what is reported from Abu Hurayra, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) started to sleep when he felt sleepy in the place where stopped. He told Bilal to awaken him for the morning prayer. Bilal performed a nafilah prayer and fell asleep by leaning on his mount when the morning approached. Neither the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) nor the Companions could wake up due to tiredness until the sun shone on their faces. The first one to wake up was the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and he warned Bilal. After the group proceeded for a while, the Companions were ordered to make wudu. The Prophet (pbuh) performed a prayer of two rak'ahs first; then, Bilal called iqamah and they performed the morning prayer as qada in congregation. After that, the Messenger of Allah said,

"If anyone who falls asleep or forgets to perform a prayer, let him perform it when he remembers it. For, Allah states the following in the Quran: "Establish regular prayer for celebrating My praise." (Taha, 20/ 14)." (Muslim, Masajid, 309; Abu Dawud, Salah, 11; Tirmidhi, Tafsiru Sura, 20; Ibn Majah, Salah, 10; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, IV, 47).

In another journey, according to what Abu Qatada and Imran b. Husayn reports separately, the morning prayer was performed by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) after the sun rose and became bright due to sleep. Those who narrated the incident did not mention which expedition it was; therefore, hadith scholars stated that it could have been the Expedition of Khaybar, Tabuk, Hudaybiyya or Jayshul-Umara. (see Bukhari, Tayammum, 6; Manaqib, 25; Muslim, Masajid, 311, 312; Sahihu Müslim Translation and Explanation, IV, 1955-1963)

It is possible to summarize the fiqh decrees related to the performing missed prayers as follows:

It is fard to perform the five daily prayers as qada if they are missed and it is wajib to perform witr prayer as qada if it is missed. The decree about the sunnah prayers is as follows: If the sunnah of the morning prayer is missed with the fard together, this sunnah is performed as qada together with fard up to the time of istiwa (noon). It is not performed before the sun rises and after istiwa.  

If the first sunnah of the noon prayer is abandoned in order to catch up with the congregation to perform the fard prayer, it is performed as qada after the fard and before the last sunnah of two rak’ahs. The use of the term qada for sunnah here is metaphorical. (see Ibn Abidin, Raddul-Muhtar alad-Durril-Mukhtar, Istanbul 1984, II, 65). It is not necessary to perform the sunnah prayers that are missed as qada. However, it is wajib to perform a sunnah or nafilah prayer that is abandoned after it is started as qada. 

Women do not perform the prayers that they miss when they are in menstruation or puerperium as qada but they perform fasting they miss as qada.

(Şâmil İ.A.)

Questions on Islam