Making Up Missed Prayers: A Comparative Jurisprudential Study Across the Four Sunni Schools and the Zaydi and Imami Doctrines

Abstract

This study addresses the issue of making up missed prayers (Qadāʾ as-salāh), a subject that highlights the Islamic Shariah،s concern for preserving one of the fundamental pillars of the religion—prayer. The research aims to clarify the concept of making up missed prayers, its status in Islamic jurisprudence, and the detailed rulings related to it. It further explores the diversity of juristic opinions and the variance in scholarly interpretations on this matter. The researcher has gathered relevant jurisprudential rulings and conducted a comparative fiqh analysis across the four Sunni schools as well as the Zaydi and Ja،fari (Imami) schools. Primary sources from Islamic jurisprudence were employed, with legal texts and evidences cited to substantiate the discussion-demonstrating the richness and plurality of Islamic legal thought.

The researcher utilized various scientific research methodologies, including the inductive method to survey the views of scholars on the concept, ruling, and related aspects of missed prayers; the comparative method to contrast juristic perspectives; and the deductive method to derive rulings based on the nature and needs of the topic.

The research is divided into three main sections:

• The first discusses the definition of making up missed prayers.


• The second examines its legal ruling.


• The third outlines how, when, and under what circumstances prayers should be made up, along with related legal issues.

Among the key findings is the obligation to make up missed prayers regardless of whether the prayer was missed due to a valid excuse or not. The research also shows that while some jurists deem maintaining chronological order between missed and current prayers as obligatory, others regard it as recommended. Additionally, the obligation of maintaining this order is waived in cases of forgetfulness, ignorance of its requirement, fear of missing the current prayer due to time constraints, or when there are many missed prayers—though juristic opinions vary in the specifics.