How to make up missed prayers

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, let them pray it when they remember it — there is no expiation for it other than that.” This narration, reported in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, is the foundation of the qada principle. A prayer missed through sleep or forgetfulness is not lost — it is made up when one is able.

The general principle

The widely held position across the Sunni schools is that a prayer missed should be made up when one is able, and that doing so promptly is encouraged. The prayer is performed in the same manner as the original — the same number of raka’at, the same recitations — just outside its original time.

There is general agreement that a prayer missed due to sleep or forgetfulness should be made up as soon as the person wakes or remembers, even if that moment falls at a normally disliked time for prayer. The obligation to pray does not vanish with the passing of the prayer’s time.

Practical approach

The practical guidance for most situations is straightforward:

• Make up the missed prayer as soon as you remember or are able. If you wake having missed Fajr, pray it immediately upon waking, before anything else if possible.
• Pray qada prayers in order. If you missed two prayers, make them up in the order they were missed, before praying the current prayer. The schools differ somewhat on whether this order is obligatory or recommended, but maintaining it is the sounder practice.
• Do not omit the current prayer while making up a past one if doing so would cause you to miss the current prayer’s time entirely.

The door of returning is always open. Pray it now, whenever you remember.

Many missed prayers

For Muslims who have accumulated many missed prayers over a long period, the question becomes one of how to approach making them up systematically. Scholars give practical guidance on this: a common approach is to make up one prayer from the missed period alongside each prayer prayed on time, building gradually. This is a point where a conversation with a knowledgeable person — an imam, a scholar, or a trusted teacher — is genuinely valuable, as the specifics can vary and the encouragement of a real person makes a difference.

A note of encouragement

The beginning of a renewed prayer life — whether after a lapse or after many years — is an act that is beloved. The Prophet ﷺ described one who returns to prayer sincerely with words of warmth. Do not let the weight of what was missed become a barrier to beginning now.

Sincerity is what matters most. Start with the prayers of today, add the past alongside them, and build consistency. The practice of daily prayer, once established, becomes its own anchor.