Should A Muslimah Qadha Her Missed Prayers Due To Period?

As Muslim women, we are sometimes negligent of performing prayer at the beginning of time, either because of busy work, taking care of household chores, being occupied with doing duties, traffic jams, and so on so forth. How does Islamic law view the idea of the prayer time coming upon us, but we have not had time to perform the obligatory prayer and then we get our period? Should we qadha (make up) our prayer as well as missed fasts of Ramadan which must be replaced at a later time?

This question has been asked to Shaykh Ibn Baz, and is quoted by Ustadz Ammi Nur Baits. There are two conditions whether a Muslimah should qadha her missed prayer or not. These conditions are:

Firstly, when the time of prayer is due, but she has not performed the prayer yet in a normal range and did not intentionally mean to procrastinate at prayer times then she gets period, she is not obliged to qadha her last prayer. For instance, if she gets menstruation at the beginning or in the middle of the prayer time, in this condition she is not required to qadha her prayer. However, if she wants to make up the missed prayer there is no problem.

Secondly, if she deliberately delays the prayer until the end of the prayer time, then she gets menstruation, she should make up the prayer, as she has intentionally delayed her obligatory prayer. Only that prayer needs to be made up, not the whole set of missed prayers during her menstruation.

It is mentioned in the following hadiths:

Mu’adha reported: A woman asked ‘A’isha: Should one amongst us complete prayers abandoned during the period of menses? ‘A’isha said: Are you a Haruriya? When any one of us during the time of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was in her menses (and abandoned prayer) she was not required to complete them. (Muslim :: Book 3 : Hadith 660)

Mu’adha said: I asked ‘A’isha: What is the reason that a menstruating woman completes the fasts (that she abandons during her monthly course). but she does not complete the prayers? She (Hadrat ‘A’isha) said: Are you a Haruriya? I said: I am not a Haruriya, but I simply want to inquire. She said: We passed through this (period of menstruation), and we were ordered to complete the fasts, but were not ordered to complete the prayers. (Muslim :: Book 3 : Hadith 662)

Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, does not burden Muslim women, since qadha of obligatory fasting is only a few days (in a year), while if Muslim women should qadha the missed prayers because of menstruation or nifas (postpartum), it would be burdensome, as normally menstruation is occurred a few days in every month and nifas usually needs 40 days.

How to make up the prayer?

A Muslimah can qadha the obligatory prayer after the end of menstruation and when she has purified herself, although it is performed at a time when it is forbidden to pray (i.e. after the morning prayer so that the sun rose as high as spears, after Asr prayer so that the sun is setting, when the sun is in the middle so it slipped to the West). The Prophet, Sallallaahu ‘ alaihi wa sallam, said:

“Those who forget the prayer or sleep so as to miss the prayer time then he should perform the prayer when he recalls it.” (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim ) .

 

Related content:  How Does A Muslimah Know That She Finished Her Menstruation And Can Start Praying?

Wallahu A’lam

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