Praying After Time
Question:
Dear Sir!
If the time of prayer is gone what should be done and what is the concept of qaza namaz?
Regards.
Answer:
If the time of prayer is gone and you missed it by mistake then as soon as you notice it, you should offer it. In other words, as soon as you realise that you have not done your prayer it will become obligatory for you to offer it at that very point. If you delay it without any excuse then you have committed a sin.
On the other hand if you intentionally miss your prayer, then you have committed a great sin. In this case there are in principle two views about what should be done:
- One view is that you need to read the prayer that you intentionally missed. This is normally what is referred to as Qaza payer (while in a more general sense, any prayer that is read after its time can be called a Qaza prayer).
- Another view is that a prayer that is intentionally missed cannot be restored. The person may offer Nafl (non-obligatory) prayers instead to make up the spiritual damage that he has intentionally caused in a hope that the Almighty will accept that as an atonement for his missed prayer.
This is obviously a matter of Ijtihad (personal analysis). I prefer the second view however with a slight adjustment:
In my view, if a person intentionally does not read a prayer then there are two situations:
- If he is in the habit of reading his prayers regularly, then this was only a rare case of temporary laziness or carelessness. In this case he needs to repent and read the missed prayer immediately. Obviously if this happens several times then he will come out of this category (i.e. he won't be categoised as one who has the habit of regularly reading his prayers).
- If he is not in the habit of reading his prayers regularly, then, once such person comes back to his senses, he does not need to read those prayers that he missed. He has committed a big sin for which he needs to wholeheartedly repent. If he wishes, he can read more Nafls (non-obligatory prayers) to make up for the negligence and disobedience he had towards his Lord.
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May 2013
Dear Sir!
If the time of prayer is gone what should be done and what is the concept of qaza namaz?
Regards.
Answer:
If the time of prayer is gone and you missed it by mistake then as soon as you notice it, you should offer it. In other words, as soon as you realise that you have not done your prayer it will become obligatory for you to offer it at that very point. If you delay it without any excuse then you have committed a sin.
On the other hand if you intentionally miss your prayer, then you have committed a great sin. In this case there are in principle two views about what should be done:
- One view is that you need to read the prayer that you intentionally missed. This is normally what is referred to as Qaza payer (while in a more general sense, any prayer that is read after its time can be called a Qaza prayer).
- Another view is that a prayer that is intentionally missed cannot be restored. The person may offer Nafl (non-obligatory) prayers instead to make up the spiritual damage that he has intentionally caused in a hope that the Almighty will accept that as an atonement for his missed prayer.
This is obviously a matter of Ijtihad (personal analysis). I prefer the second view however with a slight adjustment:
In my view, if a person intentionally does not read a prayer then there are two situations:
- If he is in the habit of reading his prayers regularly, then this was only a rare case of temporary laziness or carelessness. In this case he needs to repent and read the missed prayer immediately. Obviously if this happens several times then he will come out of this category (i.e. he won't be categoised as one who has the habit of regularly reading his prayers).
- If he is not in the habit of reading his prayers regularly, then, once such person comes back to his senses, he does not need to read those prayers that he missed. He has committed a big sin for which he needs to wholeheartedly repent. If he wishes, he can read more Nafls (non-obligatory prayers) to make up for the negligence and disobedience he had towards his Lord.
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May 2013