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What is the ruling on one who prays the prescribed prayers with the intention of making them up (qaḍāʾ) so as to remove doubt and whisperings (waswas) and to be certain that their obligation has been fulfilled, and are they sinful if their obligation was already fulfilled yet they prayed with the intention of making them up?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Whoever is not certain or does not think that they have missed prayers is not required to make them up. This doubt of theirs is baseless because it is a whisper (waswasah) that is not supported by evidence. There is no making up (qada') except for a doubt supported by evidence. Some people have become overly keen on making up missed prayers without verification, calling it "salat al-'umr" (the prayer of a lifetime). Some of them believe that they should not pray any supererogatory (nafilah) prayers at all, but rather substitute them with missed prayers. In this case, making up the prayers is not sinful, but it contravenes the practice of the early Muslims (salaf).

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

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