Importance of Qadā Salāh
Allāh SWT, through his infinite Mercy, has blessed the Muslim Ummah with the bounty and favour of ṣalāh. Almighty Allāh, who is our Sustainer and who is completely independent, has made ṣalāh compulsory upon Muslims through His sheer Grace.
One may question why the obligation of ṣalāh is classed as His Mercy and Grace. The answer is simple: the sole purpose of a Muslim’s life is to gain the pleasure and happiness of Allāh S, so He has made such avenues compulsory in religion through which the believing Muslim can reach this goal. Five times a day believers are ordered to turn to their Creator and gain His closeness. This is so important that it will be the very first thing asked about on the Day of Judgement. Believers will have to account for every single ṣalāh that was compulsory on them in this world.
The Prophet s said: Indeed the very first deed that a servant will have to account for will be his ṣalāh. If it is correct then he will have succeeded, and if it is incorrect then he will have lost and failed… (At-Tirmidhī)
The importance of completing one’s qaḍā ṣalāh can be clearly understood from this ḥadīth. A Muslim does not leave or neglect any ṣalāh of his own accord; due to some difficulty or mistake his ṣalāh is missed. Thereafter, he is eager to make up for it.
Keeping this fact in mind, when noting the masā’il of missed ṣalāh the fuqahā (jurists) of Islām do so under the title ‘The Chapter on Missed Ṣalāh’, not ‘The Chapter on Neglected Ṣalāh’. Shaykh Abū Bakr AlYamānī states: The fuqahā have quoted ‘The Chapter on Missed Ṣalāh’ and have not quoted ‘The Chapter on Neglected Ṣalāh’ as the outward condition of a Muslim is that he does not neglect ṣalāh on purpose; rather, he misses ṣalāh due to a mistake or due to oversleeping or forgetting.
Therefore, it is extremely necessary for a Muslim to fulfil the important duty of performing all the ṣalāh that he has missed. A few beneficial points from the teachings of our respected Haḍrat Mawlānā Muhammad Saleem Dhorat ḥafiẓahullāh are mentioned for those intending to complete this necessary task.
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Firstly, make a firm intention to fulfil this great responsibility and repent for missing the previous ṣalāh. Also do not miss any ṣalāh from now on.
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Consult an ‘ālim with regards to working out the number of ṣalāh you have missed.
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Allocate a specific amount of time every day for qaḍā ṣalāh. Increase this time on the weekends.
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Or make a target of five every day and ten on the weekends.
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Or make a target of performing one qaḍā after every farḍ ṣalāh of the day.
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Qaḍā can be read at all times except the following: - Sunrise, - Midday i.e. during approx. 10mins. before Zawāl, - Sunset i.e. before Maghrib Ṣalāh.
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Keep a chart and note your progress.
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Niyyah (intention) is necessary for ṣalāh. When performing qaḍā ṣalāh one needs to make niyyah for the particular ṣalāh that was missed. In the case of having missed many ṣalāh, the niyyah should be to do qaḍā of the last ṣalāh missed, e.g. two raka‘āt qaḍa of Fajr is being performed for the last Fajr Ṣalāh missed.
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In all your qaḍā ṣalāh you may read the same short sūrahs over again, e.g. Sūrah Al-‘Aṣr and Sūrah AlKawthar.
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In the third and fourth raka‘āt of Ẓuhr, ‘Aṣr, Maghrib and ‘Ishā instead of reading Sūrah Al-Fātiḥah as usual, you may read any tasbīḥ e.g. subḥānallāh or alḥamdulillāh or Allāhu akbar three times and thereafter proceed into rukū‘.
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However, in the Witr Ṣalāh you must read Sūrah AlFātiḥah and another sūrah in all three raka‘āt.
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In qaḍā ṣalāh you may end the ṣalāh by reading a short form of durūd sharīf after the tashahhud (at-taḥiyyāt).
Note: All the points mentioned in helping a Muslim shorten the time in fulfilling his qaḍā are taken from the works of the great fuqahā. If one reads ṣalāh according to these points then there will be no effect on the validity of the ṣalāh
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