How to perform Qadha Salah?
Message: As Salaam Wa Alaikum. I would like to know how to perform the kazaa prayer please. Thank you.
Wa Alaikum Assalaam,
الجواب و بالله التوفيق
In performing Qadha Salah, you need to know which Salah you are doing Qadha for. When you know this, you will make an intention for that Salah and perform it during the permissible timings for Salah. It is to be understood that Qadha prayer will be done for the missed Fardh and Witr Salah. Qadha is not done for Sunnah or Nafl prayer. (Kitabul Fatawa Vol.2, Pgs. 424,425, Zam Zam Publishers, Karachi 2007).
The Qadha Salah will be performed in the same manner that you perform your Fardh and Witr Salah with respect to the Surah Fatihah and Surahs to be recited.
Salah becomes compulsory upon a person from the time the age of puberty enters. As such, after reaching the age of puberty, if a person did not perform Salah at that time, he/she will have to do the Qadha of all these Salah that were left out, whether they were missed intentionally or unintentionally. Qadha prayer will not be done for that which was missed by a woman on account of menses or Nifas (bleeding after childbirth).
Making up (Qadha) for missed Salah is essential since the Prophet (S.A.S) said, ‘Whoever sleeps over Salah or forgets it, let him perform it when he remembers.’ (Bukhari). Therefore, a person will be required to do Qadha for all those Salah that were missed.
In order to make it easy, a person should make a chart/table highlighting 5 Salah of each day of the past years/months/weeks which one had missed. One should devote some of his time every day for making up these missed Salah. Every time one goes to perform one of these Salah, he should make the intention of the Fardh or Witr Salah of that specific day which one is making up for. Whatever he completes from the missed Salah, he can put a tick by it to see what he has done already. In this way, he will continue to make up for the missed Salah until he completes them.
At times, it may be difficult to remember how much, and which Salah were missed in the past years. In this case, a person should continuously do Qadha of each of his daily Salah until he thinks to himself that he has completed what he had missed. Seeing that in this case, it might be difficult for the person to identify in his intention which Salah he is doing Qadha for, it will be sufficient to make the intention that he/she is doing Qadha for a Fajr Salah (or Dhur or Asr etc) which he/she has missed in the past.
One should however, make an effort to remember the Salah which one has missed in the past, so that one can fulfil these in a manner that will absolve him from this duty which he owes to Allah.
And Allah Knows Best.
Mufti Waseem Khan.
4/2/16.