QUESTION:
Is it obligatory to pray the missed salaats in order ? What if one has much missed salaats? When is the obligation in the order waived?
ANSWER:
The person who has never missed six prayers, or the number of his Qadha prayers is less than six is termed “Saahib-ut-Tarteeb”. Whenever a prayer is missed by such a person, he has to observe sequence between the prayers. He Is bound to perform the Qadha before the Ada’ prayers of the time. For example, if he has missed the Zuhr prayer, then at the time of ASR he must perform the Qadha of Zuhr first, and the Ada’ of ASR after it. If he performed the ASR before the Qadha of Zuhr, his ASR prayer will be void and he will have to pray again.
Observance of sequence is necessary between the different Qadha prayers also. All the Qadha prayers should be performed in the same order in which they were missed. So, if a person has missed both Fajr and Zuhr then, at the time of Asr he must perform the Qadha of Fajr first of all, then he should perform the Qadha of Zuhr and then he should pray Asr. If he disturbed this sequence he will have to pray again observing the due sequence. The observance of sequence is obligatory on a Saahib-ut-Tarteeb, but if a person is not Saahib-ut-Tarteeb i.e. the number of Qadha prayers due on him is six or more, the observance of sequence is not obligatory on him.
A person who is not Saahib-ut-Tarteeb and he has missed a lot of prayers, for example five or six years of prayers and now he does not know which prayer he missed on which day or how many prayers he missed altogether then now he should make Qadha with the intention that I am making Qadha of the first Fajr/Zuhr/Asr etc. that I have missed.
And Allah Ta’aala knows best
Talha bin Ershad Sheik
Attested to as correct by:
Mufti Muhammed Ashraf
23 JULY 2010 / 11 SHA’BAAN 1431