Chapter Six
Offering Prayers as Qada’
(A) Qada’ for one’s self
557. Qada’ is performing the act of worship outside its time (after its allocated time has elapsed); while ada’ is performing the act within its allocated time. Here, we discuss the Qada’ of prayers.
558. It is obligatory to offer prayer as Qada’ in the following situations:
First: If the person did not offer the prayer within its allocated time out of forgetfulness, ignorance or disobedience of God; this includes the following types:
a- The Muslim, including one who is murtadd, i.e. has abandoned Islam, so there is no Qada’ on the unbeliever before embracing Islam.
b- The baligh, i.e. the person who has reached the Islamic legal age, so Qada’ is not obligatory on what he/she did not pray in his/her childhood.
c- The sane, so there is no Qada’ for the prayers which the insane failed to offer at the times of insanity.
d- Purity from the menses or nifas for women, so there is no Qada’ for the prayers offered during the time of the menses or nifas.
Second: If the person did not offer the prayer in its time because of being incapable to do so, such as if he was sleeping, under the effect of anaesthetics, unconscious if this was of his own making, even if he had little control over it; however, if losing his conscious took place outside his control, there is no Qada’ for the prayers that fall during that time.
Third: If outside its allocated time, it was discovered that a prayer offered within its allocated time was void.
559. For the ruling that there is no obligation to offer Qada’ for the above listed situations, it is a condition that the excuse cover the entire time, so if the child becomes baligh and there is still time to offer the prayer and its pre-requirements, even one rak‘ah with tayammom, but he does not offer it, he must offer it as Qada’. Also, if the person was able to offer the prayer in the beginning of its allocated time but he did not offer it, then he fell unconscious, for example, it is obligatory on him to offer it as Qada’ even if the excuse continued until the end of the time.
560. It is not obligatory on the Muslim who is not following the Ahlul Bayt (as) school of thought (i.e. the Shi’ite Ithna-’asheri school) to offer as Qada’ his prayers that he had offered before starting to follow the Ahlul Bayt (as) school of thought, as long as he was conforming to the rulings of his past school of thought, or to the rulings of the Ahlul Bayt (as) school if he believed that following it was valid even if he was unaware of the sectarian issue.
561. It is obligatory that the following prayers are offered as Qada’ by the Muslim who has reached the age of teklif (the Islamic legal age):
1- The daily prayers, except the Friday prayer which, if its time elapses, he must offer as Qada’ as noon (dhohr) prayer not Friday prayer.
2- The ayat prayers, except if he did not know that a partial eclipse had taken place, as mentioned before.
3- Obligatory prayers at a certain time, for example as the result of a vow (nathr), covenant (‘ahd) or oath (yemīn), if he could not offer it at its time; the same applies if the prayer intended in the vow was a nafilah, which has a certain time, such as the nawafil (additional prayers) of the daily obligatory prayers, as an obligatory precaution, which is better if the nafilah was not time-bound but was set in the vow for a certain time but was offered in that time.
562. It is recommended to offer the Qada’ of the daily additional prayers and other time-bound nawafil.
563. It is not obligatory to hasten for Qada’, since it is allowed to be offered during the whole of the lifetime, unless this leads to complacency in offering the obligation, in which case the person must hasten to do it. That said, it is recommended that one should hasten to carry out the Qada’ in normal circumstances.
564. Qada’ is not bound by a certain time or a certain situation regarding residence or travel, but it is allowed to offer as Qada’ any prayer in any time, in residence or in travel, so the Qada’ of night prayers may be offered during the day and vice versa; also the tamam prayers may be offered as Qada’ in travel and the qasr in residence.
565. Order in Qada’ (offering the prayer which was not offered at a given time before the prayer which was not offered at a later time) is not obligatory, so if someone failed to pray for several days, he may start with any prayer. However, it is not acceptable for someone who failed to offer both the noon and afternoon prayers or both the sunset and evening prayers to start (in his Qada’) with the afternoon prayer before the noon prayer, or the evening prayer before the sunset prayer; but he is allowed to offer Qada’ of the noon and afternoon prayers, for example, before the Qada’ of the dawn prayer, or the sunset and evening prayers before the noon and afternoon prayers.
566. It is allowed to offer Qada’ in a congregation, both as a leader or a follower, rather it is recommended.
567. It is allowed for someone who has to carry out Qada’ to pray additional (nawafil), however if the two compete, it is better to carry out Qada’ before, and indeed it may become obligatory if, for example, delaying it might lead to complacency in it.
568. If someone doubts the existence of prayers that require Qada’, he should disregard his doubt; and if he is certain of their existence but doubts their number, he may decide on the least probable number, although it is better to offer the highest probable number.
(B) Offering Qada’ for the dead
A person must offer Qada’ prayers for himself, but if he fails to do so, he should do his utmost to see that this Qada’ is performed after his death. The dead person will have met his obligations, having recognised the prayers he should have offered, if one of two methods is followed:
1- The eldest male child (son) carries out the Qada’ of these prayers on his father’s behalf, either by himself or by asking someone else to do it, either for free or at a cost; in this case the matter rests with the eldest son to offer Qada’ for his father when the latter did not request it in his will.
2- A will left by the dead person; in this case it rests with the executor (wasy) of the will, who can hire someone to perform the Qada’, who is paid from the estate of the dead, or he can see that someone does this voluntarily for free.
The details of this are as follows:
First: The Qada’ of the son for his father
569. It is a precaution that the eldest son offers Qada’ for the prayers which his father failed to offer for some valid reason, or even intentionally in some exceptional cases; but not for the prayers that he did not offer out of disobedience or if he insisted on abandoning prayer throughout his life. If his father had a valid excuse but could not perform Qada’ all his life because of illness or the like, here it is not obligatory on the eldest son to offer Qada’ on his behalf. In the mother's case, however, it is not obligatory on the eldest son to offer Qada’ on her behalf for what she failed to offer, although this is recommended as good conduct.
570. For the eldest child to be obliged to offer Qada’ for his father, there are certain conditions:
a- The person must be male, so if the deceased left girls only, the eldest daughter is not obliged to offer Qada’ for what he failed to pray.
b- He must have reached the Islamic legal age (baligh) and be adult (rsshid/‘aqil); so if he was young, he is not obliged to offer Qada’ when he becomes baligh.
c- He must not be excluded from the inheritance, such as if he had killed his father.
571. By the eldest son it is not meant the first born son to the deceased, but the eldest when the father died; so if the first born son died during his father’s life, the obligation is transferred to the next eldest son. Also, the existence of daughters of the deceased older than the eldest son does not affect the latter’s obligation.
572. The Qada’ obligation on the eldest son becomes void in the following cases:
a- If the deceased father had requested in his will to have the Qada’ offered from a third of his estate, in the execution of the will.
b- If the eldest son dies before offering Qada’ on his father’s behalf; here it is not obligatory to allocate an amount of money from the eldest son’s estate for the cost of hiring others to perform the Qada’, nor does the obligation get transferred to the next eldest son.
c- If the eldest son hires someone to offer the Qada’ on his behalf from his own money not from the deceased's, or if someone donates it.
573. If the eldest son abstains from the Qada’, it is obligatory, as a precaution, and where possible, to take an amount equal the cost of performing Qada’ from his portion of the inheritance after the permission from an Islamic authority (scholar) to carry out Qada’ has been obtained, when the time becomes short and there is fear that the matter will be ignored.
574. When there is some doubt about the prayers that were not offered by the deceased, it is not obligatory to offer Qada’; and when this is known but there is doubt around the number of prayers, it must be decided on the least probable number. But if the son is fairly certain that there were unoffered prayers but is not sure whether his deceased father prayed them or not, in this case it is obligatory on him to offer them Qada’.
Second: Hiring others to pray
575. It is allowed to hire others to perform prayer and the rest of the acts of worship on behalf of the dead, and the deeds of the hired person would fulfil the deceased's duties.
576. There are certain conditions for the hired person:
1- Adulthood.
2- Belief.
3- Reaching the Islamic legal age, as a precaution.
4- It is probable that he will perform the act correctly, a confidence that derives from the probability of him being knowledgeable of the rulings even if as a precaution.
5- He must not have a handicap, such as someone who is not able to stand up, the incontinent, someone who has to perform tayammom, except if there are no others; in addition, there is problem in the case when such people volunteer for the job. However, it is quite possible that someone who has a splint/bandage (jabireh) is allowed to be hired, and he may be accepted if he volunteers, although it is better and precautionary to avoid this.
577. Justice is not a condition in the hired person, although it is better that he is just when he is told what he is asked to do. It seems that satisfaction (itmi’nan) that he did perform the acts on behalf of the dead with the probability that they were done correctly is sufficient. It is also valid to hire someone who himself has to offer Qada’ for himself or for his dead father, and he too may be accepted as a volunteer.
578. Similarity in gender between the hired person and the one on whose behalf he is acting is not obligatory, (but when two sexes are involved) the matter of whispering or praying aloud must follow the hired person not the one on whose behalf he is acting.
579. The hired person must perform the prayer with the recommended acts in the way that is commonly accepted as far as the hiring is concerned, unless the person doing the hiring specifies a certain form, in which case the hired person must adhere to this.
580. The hired person may act according to his ijtihad or taqlid, unless it was laid down as a condition to offer the prayer according to the ijtihad or taqlid of the deceased, in which case this must be observed. Also, the hired person may turn to his ijtihad or taqlid regarding the rulings on lack of awareness and doubt, and the prayer is not to be repeated unless this was laid down as a condition.