If I miss any voluntary prayers for some reason, can I make them up later?

by Asma bint Shameem

ANSWER

It depends on what KIND of voluntary prayers you missed.

1. If you missed the regular Sunnah prayers associated with the five daily prayers for some VALID reason, then it’s allowed to make them up later, according to the stronger scholarly opinion.

📌 Proof #1:

Once umm Salamah radhi Allaahu anhaa saw the Prophet ﷺ praying two rak’aat after Asr. So she asked him about it

He ﷺ said:

“O daughter of Abu Umayyah, you asked about the two rak’ahs after ‘Asr.

That is because some people from ‘Abd al-Qays came to me and distracted me from the two rak'ahs that come after Dhuhr; these are they (i.e., I prayed them just now).” (al-Bukhaari and Muslim)

📌Proof # 2:

The Prophet ﷺ saw a man praying two rak‘ahs after Fajr.

So the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Fajr prayer twice?”

The man said to him:

“I did not pray the two rak‘ahs that come before it, so I prayed them (now).”

And the Prophet ﷺ did not say anything (meaning he approved of it otherwise he would have said something).”

(Ibn Maajah- saheeh by al-Albaani)

📌 Proof #3:

Aa’ishah radhi Allaahu anhaa said that if the Prophet ﷺ missed praying at night because of pain or anything else, he would pray twelve rak’ahs during the day.” (Muslim)

📌Proof #4

Aa’ishah radhi Allaahu anhaa said that if the Prophet ﷺ did not pray four rak‘ahs before Dhuhr, he would pray them afterwards.”

(al-Tirmidhi 426; hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi)

🍃Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen said:

“Making up regular Sunnah prayers is Sunnah if one misses them.

The evidence for that is that when the Prophet ﷺ slept and missed Fajr prayer, and did not wake up until after the sun had risen, he prayed the Sunnah prayer of Fajr first, then he prayed Fajr after that.” [Liqaa’aat al-Baab il-Maftooh (no. 74, question no 18)]

🔺Important point

So it’s proven that it’s permissible to make up the voluntary prayers if you missed it fir a valid reason.

But if you just didn’t pray your Sunnah out of laziness, then there’s no making them up.

🍃 Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen said:

“If a person delays the Sunnah prayer that should be offered before, until after the prayer, if that is because of an excuse then there is nothing wrong with him making it up later on, and it is acceptable.

But if he had no excuse, then it is NOT ACCEPTABLE.”

(Fataawa wa Rasaa’il Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 14/194)

2. if you missed any voluntary prayers that are done for a SPECIFIC REASON, then once the time is gone, it cannot be made up.

For example the Eid prayer, the Eclipse prayer, the Duhaa prayer, etc

Although there’s a difference of opinion among the scholars, that’s the opinion favored by Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen.

🍃 He said:

“Naafil acts which are done for a specific reason should not be made up once the reason is no longer present.

For example, if the sun is eclipsed and a person was asleep, then when he wakes up he finds out that there has been an eclipse, he should not do the eclipse prayer because the occasion has passed.

Similarly, if a man enters the masjid and stays there for a long time thinking that he does not have wudhu, then he remembers that he does have wudhu, he should not pray Tahiyyat al-Masjid because it is a Sunnah and the occasion for it has passed.

The guideline in these cases is that every naafil act which is done for a REASON should not be made up later.”

(Al-Da’wah Magazine, Issue # 1756, P. 37)

And Allaah knows best.