How do I make up missed prayers?

Missed one this morning, or missed years? What to pray, in what order, and a plan you can keep.

26 October 202626 Oct 2026 · 5 min readShare this post

Your alarm did not go off. You woke up after sunrise, and Fajr time was already over.

Or maybe it is bigger than that. You look back and see months, maybe years, when you did not pray at all.

Both have an answer. Here is how to make up missed prayers, step by step. Many people call this qaza or qada namaz.

The short answer: pray a missed prayer as soon as you remember it. If you missed years of prayers, start today, and pray one old prayer with each prayer you pray.

I slept through a prayer. What do I do?

Pray it as soon as you wake up. That is all you need to do.

You have not sinned. The Prophet ﷺ and his companions once slept through Fajr while they were traveling. They woke up after the sun had risen, and he led them in Fajr right away.

He said there is no blame on someone who is asleep. The blame is on someone who is awake and lets the prayer time pass.

I forgot a prayer. What do I do?

The same thing. Pray it as soon as you remember. The Prophet ﷺ said there is nothing else you need to do for it.

I did not pray for months or years. What now?

First, turn back to Allah. Be sorry, start praying again today, and decide that you will not stop again. Allah says: do not lose hope in Allah's mercy. He forgives all sins.

Then there are the old prayers you missed. Scholars give two answers here.

Most scholars say: make them up. Someone who forgot a prayer has to pray it later. So someone who left it on purpose has to pray it later too.

Some scholars say: you cannot make them up, so pray extra instead. Ibn Taymiyyah was one of them. They say a prayer left on purpose cannot be prayed later. Instead, be truly sorry and pray a lot of extra prayers. The Prophet ﷺ said that on the Day of Judgment, if your five daily prayers are missing some, Allah will fill the gap with your extra prayers.

Most scholars hold the first view, so it is the safer choice. Whichever one you follow, the first step is the same: pray today's five prayers.

How do I make up years of prayers?

It is easier than it sounds. Here is a simple plan.

1. Work out how many years. Start counting from when you reached puberty. Stop at the day you started praying again. If you are not sure, guess a little higher. Allah does not ask you for an exact number you cannot know.

Some days do not count. Women do not make up the prayers from their period days, or from the bleeding after giving birth. And if you became Muslim as an adult, you owe nothing from before. The Prophet ﷺ said becoming Muslim wipes away everything that came before.

2. Pray one old prayer with each new one. After you pray today's Fajr, pray one more Fajr for the past. After Dhuhr, pray one more Dhuhr. Do this with all five, and you make up one full day of prayers every day.

3. Keep count. Use a notebook or the notes app on your phone. Tick off each day you finish.

How do I pray a missed prayer?

Pray it the same way you always pray it. Fajr is two rak'ahs (units of prayer). Maghrib is three. Dhuhr, Asr and Isha are four each.

You do not need to say any special words. You only need to know in your heart which prayer you are making up, for example "a Fajr I missed". That is enough.

You only make up the five daily prayers, not the extra sunnah prayers. If you follow the Hanafi way, also make up Witr (the short prayer with an odd number of rak'ahs, prayed after Isha), because Hanafi scholars count Witr as a must.

Which one do I pray first?

If you missed one or two prayers today, pray them in their normal order first, then pray the one that is due now. The Prophet ﷺ once missed Asr on the day of a battle. After sunset, he prayed Asr first, then Maghrib.

If you owe years of prayers, you do not have to finish all of them first. Pray today's prayers on time, and make up the old ones as you go. Most scholars say this.

One rule all scholars agree on: if the time for today's prayer is about to run out, pray today's prayer first, so you do not miss that one too.

Can I pray a missed prayer at any time of day?

There are some times in the day when Muslims are told not to pray extra prayers: after Fajr until the sun has risen, and after Asr until the sun has set.

Missed prayers are different. Most scholars say you can make up a missed prayer at any time, even in those times. This is true for a prayer you missed this morning, and for old prayers from years ago. The Prophet ﷺ said: if you miss a prayer, pray it when you remember it.

Hanafi scholars are stricter about three short times: the few minutes while the sun is rising, when it is straight overhead at noon, and while it is setting. They say: wait until those few minutes pass, then pray.

One last thing

Tonight, after you pray Isha, pray one more Isha for the past. Write "1" in a note on your phone. Tomorrow, pray one old prayer with each of your five. That is one full day made up, every day, starting tonight.

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 597; Sahih Muslim 684; Sahih al-Bukhari 595; Sahih Muslim 681; Quran 39:53; Jami` at-Tirmidhi 413 (sahih per al-Albani and Ahmad Shakir, daif per Zubair Ali Zai); Sahih Muslim 335; Quran 8:38; Sahih Muslim 121; Sahih al-Bukhari 596; Sahih Muslim 831

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