A question was submitted to the Al-Azhar Global Fatwa Center concerning a person who missed a prayer while traveling and then returned home. The question was whether the missed prayer should be made up in shortened form or completed in full.
The center explained that Muslims are generally required to perform prayers within their prescribed times and should not delay them except when there is a valid excuse or a recognized legal concession.
What Is the Ruling on a Prayer Missed During Travel?
Islamic law grants travelers certain concessions, including shortening four-unit prayers and combining prayers, as a means of reducing hardship during travel.
The four-unit prayers are Dhuhr, Asr, and Isha, which a traveler may shorten to two rak‘ahs under the applicable rules of travel.
However, scholars differ over how a four-unit prayer missed during travel should be made up if the person remembers it after returning home.
Should the Missed Prayer Be Two or Four Rak‘ahs?
Scholars have differed regarding a four-unit prayer that was missed while traveling and is made up after the traveler has returned to residence.
The Hanafi and Maliki View
The Hanafi and Maliki schools hold that if a four-unit prayer was missed during travel, it should be made up as two rak‘ahs, even after returning home.
According to this view, the prayer became due while the person was traveling and therefore retains the shortened form when it is made up.
Evidence for Making Up the Missed Prayer
Those who hold this view rely on the hadith narrated from Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, in which the Prophet Muhammad said:
“Whoever forgets a prayer or sleeps through it, its expiation is to pray it when he remembers it.”
The hadith was reported by Imam Muslim and establishes that a missed prayer should be performed when it is remembered.
According to this understanding, the form in which the prayer became due is taken into consideration when it is made up.
The Shafi‘i and Hanbali View
The Shafi‘i and Hanbali schools hold that if a traveler misses a four-unit prayer and makes it up after returning home, it should be performed as four complete rak‘ahs.
Why Is the Prayer Completed After Returning Home?
According to this view, the concession of shortening prayer is connected to the state of travel.
Once the journey ends and the person returns to residence, the reason for the concession no longer exists. Therefore, the person should not shorten a four-unit prayer while residing at home, even if that prayer was originally missed during travel.
This view also considers the Prophetic instruction to perform the prayer when it is remembered, while taking into account the difference between the rulings applicable during travel and residence.
What Is Preferable When Making Up the Prayer?
The Al-Azhar Global Fatwa Center explained that, based on the scholarly disagreement, someone who missed a four-unit prayer during travel and remembered it after returning home may make it up as two rak‘ahs, according to the Hanafi and Maliki position.
However, the center indicated that completing it as four rak‘ahs is preferable as a way of avoiding the disagreement among scholars.
Can Prayer Be Delayed Because of Travel?
The basic principle is that a Muslim should perform prayer within its prescribed time and should not intentionally delay it without a valid excuse.
Islamic law provides travelers with concessions that make prayer easier during journeys, including shortening and combining prayers under the relevant conditions.
Summary of the Ruling
If a Muslim misses a four-unit prayer while traveling and remembers it after returning home, there are two major scholarly positions:
- Hanafi and Maliki: Make it up as two rak‘ahs.
- Shafi‘i and Hanbali: Make it up as four complete rak‘ahs.
- Preferred approach: Completing four rak‘ahs is preferable as a way of avoiding the scholarly disagreement, according to the explanation provided by the Al-Azhar Global Fatwa Center.
How should a prayer missed during travel be made up after returning home?
For a four-unit prayer, it may be made up as two rak‘ahs according to the Hanafi and Maliki schools, or four according to the Shafi‘i and Hanbali schools.
Should a missed Dhuhr prayer from travel be two rak‘ahs?
According to the Hanafi and Maliki position, yes, if it was missed while traveling. The Shafi‘i and Hanbali schools hold that it should be completed as four after returning home.
Which prayers can be shortened during travel?
The four-unit prayers—Dhuhr, Asr, and Isha—may be shortened. Fajr and Maghrib are not shortened.
Is it preferable to make up the missed prayer as four rak‘ahs?
Yes. The Al-Azhar Global Fatwa Center indicated that completing four rak‘ahs is preferable to avoid the scholarly disagreement.
Can prayer be delayed because of travel?
The basic rule is to pray within the prescribed time. Travelers may use the established concessions for travel according to their conditions.
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