PermissibleWorship · Salah

What is the ruling of Qada of Qasr Salah performed as four instead of two Rak’at?

Reviewed by Mufti Faraz Adam · 30 September 2023 · 15 Rabiʻ I 1445 AH

The answer

Qaḍā’ of Ṣalāh that was supposed to be performed as Qaṣr but mistakenly performed in full does not need to be repeated.

Explanation

A person had a year’s worth of Qada Salah due on him, which he completed. He then realised that within the one year, approx one week he was travelling. Does he need to the Qada of one week again as Qasr, or is it assumed done?

Jazakallahu Khayran.

Qaḍā’ of Ṣalāh that was supposed to be performed as Qaṣr but mistakenly performed in full does not need to be repeated.

A person had a year’s worth of Qada Salah due on him, which he completed. He then realised that within the one year, approx one week he was travelling. Does he need to the Qada of one week again as Qasr, or is it assumed done?

Jazakallahu Khayran.

Although a ṣarīḥ ʿIbārah on the Mas’alah at hand could not be located, the Fiqh of the answer is based on the following:

Doing Qiyās on the Takhrīj of the Fuqahā’ regarding the same circumstance in ‘Adā’;
The Aṣl al-Binā’ (basis) of this Mas’alah; and
Various Furūʿ in the Madhhab that indicate to the underpinning Aṣl.

At the outset, Imam al-Qudūrī (d.428 AH) states that if a Musāfir (traveller) misses a prayer, they must do Qaḍā’ of it as Qaṣr. Similarly, if a resident (Muqīm) misses a prayer, they should make up for it in its full form, even if they repeat it while travelling. However, if a Musāfir performed four Rakʿāt instead of two in the time of the Ṣalāh as ‘Adā’,Imam al-Karkhī (d.390 AH) states that according to the opinion of Imam Abu Ḥanīfah (d.150 AH), the Ṣalāh remains valid, but the Musāfir will be at fault due to the delay in concluding the obligatory prayer (first two) with Salām. This is further narrated by Imam al-Kāsānī (d.587 AH) and is also mentioned in the commentary of Imam al-Qudūrī (d.428 AH) on Mukhtaṣar al-Kharkī. The view of Imam Abū Ḥanīfah (d.150 AH) is the Rājiḥ, and by default, in matters of worship, the opinion of Imam Abū Ḥanīfah is given preference as per the Uṣūl al-‘Iftā of the Madhhab.

By doing Qiyās on the above scenario of ‘Adā’, a parallel can be drawn to the scenario of Qaḍā’, namely, that when a Muqīm is performing Qaḍā’ of Qaṣr, and happens to complete four Rakʿāt, the identical outcome of ‘Adā’applies.

The binā’ of this Mas’alah is on the Aṣl narrated by Imam Raḍīy al-Dīn al-Sarakhsi (d.571 AH), Imam al-ʿAynī (d.855 AH) and others, that Qaḍā’ follows the rulings of ‘Adā’, and that a Qaḍā’ is only valid when a Mithl is delivered. Imam al-Ḥaddād al-Zabīdī (d.800 AH) states that this is because Qaḍā’is a remedial action, and an identical replacement of the outstanding obligation. An obligation is discharged by either fulfilling it immediately (‘Adā’) or by fulfilling it at a later time in the exact manner it was initially obliged. This identical replacement is known as Qaḍā’ Kāmil. In circumstances where a replacement is not identical in form and substance, and an alternative replacement has been specified in the Sharīʿah, the alternative must be delivered to discharge the obligation, known as Qaḍā’ Qāṣir. Qaḍā’can only be discharged when a replacement is offered. If it is not up to the standard of the initial obligation, it is insufficient to be deemed a replacement and Qaḍā’.

The Mas’alah of a Musāfir performing four in the state of ‘Adā’is further expounded by Imam al-Marghīnānī (d.593 AH). He states that if a Musāfirperforms four Rakʿāt instead of the prescribed two, the initial two will fulfil the Farḍ, provided that he sat down for a duration sufficient to recite the Tashahud. The subsequent two Rakʿāt, will be regarded as Nafl (voluntary) prayers. Ibn Māzah al-Bukhārī (d.616 AH) states that such an action is erroneous due to a person exiting a Farḍand commencing a Nafl in a matter which is not Masnūn.It is not the way taught to us and not the way practiced. Being an act of ʿIbādah, Taʿabbud underpins all such practices, which demands that we perform ʿIbādah in the revealed way, in the manner taught to us from the Prophet ﷺ.

Mullā Khusrū (d.885 AH) states that such a person has erred on two counts: firstly, omitting the obligatory Salām at the end of the Farḍ, and secondly, omitting the obligatory action of Takbīrah of the Nafl. Since the person fulfilled all the Farḍ element by sitting equivalent to the Tashahhud recital, the Farḍ Ṣalāh is complete as all the Farā’iḍ have been performed. It is with the performance of the Farā’iḍ that a Ṣalāh has existence and validity. However, not only is it a requirement to give Ṣalāh validity and existence through the Farā’iḍ, but it is also a requirement to perform Ṣalāhin its complete form (Kāmil) based on the principle that a Muṭlaq (unrestricted) ruling is always obliged in a complete form; the completeness comes with performing the Wājib elements.

Omitting Wājib elements requires the performance of Sajdah al-Sahw in the time of Ṣalāh. Ibn Nujaym (d.970 AH) states that if a Sajdah al-Sahw is not performed in the time of the Ṣalāh, then it is no longer possible to rectify and redeem the error. The Ṣalāh is now discharged and finalised in the form that it was offered, albeit with deficiency. Imam al-Samanqānī (d. 746 AH) and Ibn al-Humām (d.861 AH) state that anything that prevents the performance of Sajdah al-Sahwwill cause the requirement of Sajdah al-Sahw to expire. The passing of the Ṣalāh time is a barrier that prevents rectifying the Ṣalāh with Sajdah al-Sahw as the Maḥal (location) of that Ṣalāh is no longer present. It is not possible to rectify something that no longer exists and can no longer be performed.

In regard to additional Rakʿāt in the state of ‘Adā’, Mullā Khusrū (d.885 AH) states that these additional Rakʿāt will be deemed Nafl Ṣalāh,and they will be validly discharged. The Nafl Ṣalāh will be deemed a Ṣalāh as the person did not exit the state of Ṣalāhat the outset; the Taḥrīmah of the Farḍ continued Ḥukman(legally), and the Nafl Ṣalāh takes support from that Taḥrīmah to ensure that the person is still in the state of Ṣalāh. Since Qaḍā’ follows ‘Adā’ in rulings, the same must apply when this situation occurs in Qaḍā’.

In the question at hand, even though he has performed an excess which has displaced the Salām and delayed a Wājib which ought to be rectified in the Ṣalāh time, the person in question did not create considerable and material deficiency in the actual Qaḍā’. The Qaḍā’was performed in a manner that sufficiently reflects the initial obligation. It is on this basis the Ṣalāhis valid even in the state of ‘Adā’.If the Ṣalāh is valid with this deficiency in the state of ‘Adā’, the Qaḍā’ will also be valid with this deficiency; Qaḍā’ follows the rulings of ‘Adā’.

The principle of Qaḍā’ reflecting ‘Adā’is manifested in several chapters and legal cases, which shows it strength. Ibn Māzah al-Bukhārī (d.616 AH) discusses how Ḥajj al-Badal is performed according to how it would have been performed by the deceased. Similarly, Imam al-Bābirtī (d.786 AH) states that a Qaḍā’ Hajj that is being performed upon a previous Ḥajj being Fāsid must be performed in the same manner the initial Ḥajj was being performed. Imam al-Mawṣilī (d.683 AH) states that an item that was appropriated (Ghaṣb) must be returned. If it cannot be returned, the exact identical item must be given as replacement if it was a fungible item. Thus, these legal cases establish the Aṣl.

Considering the above, the ruling of the Ṣalāh of a Muqīm that mistakenly performed Qaḍā’of Qaṣr as four Rakʿātinstead of two, must follow the identical ruling of a Musāfir performing the same mistake; Namely, the Ṣalāh is valid, albeit with deficiency.

Fiqh basis

Although a ṣarīḥ ʿIbārah on the Mas’alah at hand could not be located, the Fiqh of the answer is based on the following:

Doing Qiyās on the Takhrīj of the Fuqahā’ regarding the same circumstance in ‘Adā’;
The Aṣl al-Binā’ (basis) of this Mas’alah; and
Various Furūʿ in the Madhhab that indicate to the underpinning Aṣl.