Back to search

How does one make up missed rak'ahs in three-rak'ah and four-rak'ah prayers?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

What the latecomer catches is considered the beginning of his prayer. So, if he misses one rak'ah of the Maghrib prayer, after the Imam’s tasleem, he stands up and performs one rak'ah silently with Al-Fatiha, then sits for the final tashahhud, and then performs tasleem.

If he misses two rak'ahs of the Maghrib prayer, he stands up after the Imam’s tasleem, performs one rak'ah audibly with Al-Fatiha and a Surah, then sits for the first tashahhud, then performs one rak'ah silently with Al-Fatiha only, then sits for the final tashahhud and performs tasleem.

If he joins the Imam in a three-rak'ah prayer when the Imam has already risen from the bowing of the third rak'ah, he follows him and sits with him for the final tashahhud. After the Imam’s tasleem, he performs two rak'ahs audibly with Al-Fatiha and a Surah, then sits for the first tashahhud, then performs one rak'ah silently with Al-Fatiha only, then performs tashahhud, then performs tasleem. This applies to the rest of the prayers.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy