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Is it permissible to make up the recommended rak'ahs before Asr if they were missed before the Asr prayer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is recommended to make up the regular supererogatory prayers (Sunan Ratibah) if they are missed due to a valid excuse, and it is permissible to make up the Dhuhr supererogatory prayer after Asr. There is no fixed supererogatory prayer for Asr. It has been established that the regular supererogatory prayers are ten rak'ahs (two rak'ahs before Dhuhr and two after it, two after Maghrib, two after Isha, and two before Fajr prayer), or twelve rak'ahs by adding two rak'ahs before Dhuhr. The hadiths that mention a pre-Asr supererogatory prayer are weak or have a defect, such as the hadith: "May Allah have mercy on a person who prays four rak'ahs before Asr," and the hadith: "The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray four rak'ahs before Asr." As for the hadith: "Between every two calls to prayer there is a prayer," it is general and indicates the permissibility of voluntary prayer for whoever wishes, and not the regularity of a specific Asr supererogatory prayer. Therefore, voluntary prayers before Asr are not to be made up after Asr prayer, because voluntary prayer before Asr is not an emphasized regular supererogatory prayer, and due to the prohibition of praying after Asr until the sun sets.

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

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