Being an Ibadat-i badaniyya (physical worship), namaz cannot be performed on behalf of some one else. Everyone has to perform it himself. A person who is seriously ill or very old cannot give fidya [money] to the poor in place of performing namaz. However, he can give fidya as a substitute for fasting when he is not able to fast.

  It is written in Halabi al-kabir: "A person who has omitted a namaz with an excuse or without an excuse has to make qada of it (has to perform it later). Since only in the Hanbali Madhhab a person who omits a namaz without an excuse becomes a renegade, he does not have to make qada of a namaz. He has to make his tawba for disbelief first." It is written on its sixth page, "Because it is definitely fard to perform namaz, he who disbelieves it becomes a kafir. A person who believes it but does not perform it becomes sinful. The case is the same with all the fards that are declared clearly by the Qur'an, by the sunnat (the Holy Nabi's hadiths), and by the ijma (unanimity of the Sahaba). Those fards that have been inferred through ijtihad are called muqayyad. A person who disbelieves them does not become a kafir." [One who slights these, who follows his own mind, and who despises the word of a mujtahid becomes a kafir.]

  Master Ibrahim Muhammad Neshat 'rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih', representative of Jami'ul azhar in the Republic of Cameroon, says on the twenty-fifth page of the sixth book of the series on Islamic Culture: "All savants have declared that it is a grave sin to omit namaz and that it is necessary to make qada of it. Ibn-i Taymiyya said that a person who omitted namaz without a good reason would not have to make qada of it, that it was not sahih to make qada of it, that the person would have to perform many supererogatory prayers, do many favors, do many good things, and recite istighfar a great deal, instead. And an earlier Muslim thinker, Ibn Hazm, too, put forth such heretical thoughts." Attaching wrong meanings to ayats and hadiths, Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Hazm disagreed with the Ahl as- Sunnat in this respect too, and fanned the flames of the heretical idea that good deeds could replace namaz. This has been one of the most harmful scars that they inflicted on Islam.

  It is written on the two hundred and fifty-sixth page of Durr-ul-mukhtar: "It is haram to perform the fard namaz after its prescribed time is over, that is, to leave it to qada, without a good excuse." It is written on its four hundred and eighty-fifth page: "It is a grave sin to perform namaz after its prescribed time without an excuse, [that is, without one of the good reasons prescribed by the Shariat]. This sin is not forgiven when the namaz is performed later. In addition to making qada of it, it is necessary to make tawba and to make hajj. When the qada is made, only the sin of not having performed the namaz is forgiven. If you make tawba without making qada of the namaz, neither the sin of omitting the namaz nor the sin of delaying it is forgiven. The basis for this is that acceptance of the tawba requires eliminating the sin."

 [Some preaching books say that the namaz of four rakats is performed in the name of Kaffarat-i namaz after the last Friday prayer of the blessed month of Ramadan. They even write the prayers to be said at each rakat and after the salam. This namaz, they say, will serve as the kaffarat for all the prayers of namaz that you have omitted in your previous lifetime, and all of them will be forgiven. This statement is true. But this namaz, like all other worships done at sacred times, is for the admittance of the tawba which you perform for the forgiveness of the sin of not having performed the fard prayers of namaz during their appointed times, though you have made qada of them. The omitted prayers of namaz will never be forgiven unless you make qada of them. Like wise, the kaffarat for fasting does not make up for the debt of fasting; it is necessary also to make qada for as many days as you did not fast.]

 The following writing has been translated from Durr-ul-mukhtar:

When performing the fard of the five daily prayers and the namaz of Witr and when making qada of them, it is necessary to observe the tartib. That is, when performing namaz it is necessary to pay attention to the order of time. Also the fard of Friday prayer must be performed at the time of the day's early afternoon prayer. A person who cannot wake up for the morning prayer has to make qada of it as soon as he remembers it, even if he remembers it during the khutba. Unless a person performs a prayer, it is not permissible for him to perform the five prayers following it. A hadith ash-Sharif declares: "If a person who has over-slept or forgotten a prayer remembers it while performing the following prayer in jamaat, he must finish the prayer together with the imam and then make qada of the previous prayer! Then he must perform again the one that he has performed with the imam!"

 Performing any namaz in its prescribed time is called ada. When you begin to perform a supererogatory prayer, it will be its time. Performing any namaz for the second time before its time is over is named iada. If a namaz is not performed in its time, performing it after its prescribed time is over is named qada. It is fard to make qada of a fard. It is wajib to make qada of a wajib. We are not commanded to make qada of a sunnat. If a person makes qada of a sunnat the namaz that he has performed becomes supererogatory and he does not get the blessings of the sunnat.

 [It is written in a Shii book, "If a person who has not performed his prayers of namaz with good excuses dies, his protector performs them or has them performed by someone else for money. It is permissible to save a dead person from his debts by having his other worships performed by someone else for money, too."]

 The qada can be performed at any time except the three times cited in the tenth chapter. If a person remembers that he did not perform the witr before he begins the morning prayer or as he performs it, his morning prayer will not be accepted. The morning prayer will be accepted only in case there is only enough time so as to be able to perform the witr namaz before sunrise. This means to say that if at the end of a prayer time there is not enough time to make the qada also, the necessity to make the qada first lapses. If a person who performed the fard of the time's namaz while thinking that there was very little time left finds out later that there is enough time, he makes the qada and then performs the time's fard again. If he forgets that he has a namaz of qada as he begins the time's namaz or as he performs the namaz, the namaz that he performs is accepted even if he remembers the qada after the namaz. For it is an excuse to forget.

 Another reason that excuses the necessity of performing the prayers of qada in order of time is when the number of the prayers of qada equals six. A person who omitted or performed six unacceptable fard prayers is not a person with tartib. In this case he does not have to pay attention to the sequence of time between the prayers of qada themselves or between the qada prayers and the daily prayers that he is to perform in time. For example, if a person who has not performed a fard prayer performs the five daily prayers though he remembers it, the five prayers will not be accepted and as a result the number of prayers that he has not performed will be six. The namaz of witr is not taken into consideration here. But those fard prayers that have not been performed before are added into the calculation.

 The fourth reason that eliminates the necessity of observing the order of time among the prayers of namaz is not to know the fact that time order is necessary. It is excusable not to know something on which there is no Nass or ijma'. For example, if a person who has not performed the morning prayer performs the early afternoon prayer though he remembers it, the early afternoon prayer is not acceptable. Then if he makes qada of the morning prayer and performs the late afternoon prayer, the late afternoon prayer is acceptable. For he thinks that the early afternoon prayer that he performed has been accepted. If a person has more than five prayers of qada and if, as he makes qada of them, the number of prayers which he did not perform becomes fewer than six, the necessity of observing the time order does not reapply. He may perform the remaining prayers without paying attention to their sequence.

 If a person has fewer than six prayers that he did not perform, the daily prayers that he performs without observing this time order are not accepted. But this, according to Imam-i azam, depends on a condition. When the number of prayers that he has performed later and the number of prayers left to qada add up to six, the prayers that he has performed later become acceptable again. For example, if a person does not perform one fard prayer or the witr, the prayers that he performs later are not accepted. If he makes qada of the prayer which he has omitted before having performed the fifth prayer, the prayers that he has performed become supererogatory prayers. If the time of the fifth prayer is over before he performs the omitted prayer, the number of prayers not accepted, when added to the omitted prayer, becomes six. In this case, the five prayers which he has performed become acceptable again. However, during each prayer that he performs he must remember that he has a prayer of qada. If he has not remembered during a few of them, they are not added into the calculation. If a person who has not performed the morning prayer performs the following prayer, as the sun rises the following day, all the five prayers he has performed become acceptable.

 According to the Imamayn, the unacceptability of the prayers that are performed with no regard to time order does not depend on any conditions; it is categorical.

 A person who cannot stand or who may suffer harm or feels dizzy if he stands performs the fard prayers sitting at the place where he makes the sajda. He bows for the ruku' and places his head on the floor for the sajda. For a person who can stand for a little while by leaning on a wall, on a stick or on a person, it is fard to say the takbir while standing up and to remain standing at least long enough for that. A person who is unable to prostrate for the sajda must make the sajda on something hard that is less than 25 cm high and which has been put on the floor beforehand. A person who has a wound on his forehead puts only his nose on the floor, and a person with a wound on his nose puts only his forehead on the floor. A person who has excuses both on his nose and on his forehead, and who therefore cannot put his head down on the floor or on a similar hard thing, performs the namaz sitting, with signs, even if he can stand. That is, he bends a little for the ruku', and bends even more for the sajda. To make the sajda, it is tahrimi makruh for him or for someone else to lift up something from the floor in order to make sajda on it. As is written in the books Fath-ul-Qadir, Maraqil-falah, Halabi, and Majma'ul anhur, one day Rasulullah (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) visited a sick person. When he saw that the person lifted up a pillow and made the sajda on it, he removed the pillow. This time the sick person picked up a piece of wood and made the sajda on it. Rasulullah removed the piece of wood, too, and stated: "Make the sajda on the floor if you can! If you cannot bend down to the floor do not lift something up to your face to make sajda on it! Perform the namaz by signs and for the sajda bend more than you do for the ruku'!" If a person bends more than he does for the ruku' when making the sajda on something propped up, he will have performed the namaz by signs, and his namaz will become sahih. Therefore, it is unnecessary to lift up something with hands.

 Ibrahim Halabi (rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih) says on the six hundred and eighteenth page of Halabi al-kabir, "If the medicine put on a person's tooth in order to stop vehement pain prevents him from saying the prayers, he follows the imam if there is little amount of time left. If there is not an imam he performs the namaz without saying the prayers."

 A person who cannot sit properly because of some pain in one of his limbs, sits as he likes. He may even stretch his legs towards the qibla in order to sit. He leans against a pillow or something else, or someone may support or hold him and prevent him from falling. It is not permissible for him to sit on something high and perform the namaz with signs. [The namaz of a person who performs it sitting in a chair is not acceptable. For there is no darurat for sitting on a chair. He who can sit in a chair can sit on the floor as well, and therefore he has to perform namaz sitting on the floor. Someone should help a sick person stand up who cannot stand up from the floor, even if he can stand up easily from a chair, after namaz. Or, the sick person can perform the namaz sitting without hanging his feet down from a divan laid towards the qibla. After namaz, he can hang down his feet from one side of the divan and can stand up as he would from a chair.] A sick person who cannot sit up on the floor, lean up against something, or be held up by someone else must perform namaz lying on his back. He stretches his feet towards the qibla. He puts a pillow under his head, thus his face being turned towards the qibla, or he lies on his right or left with his face to wards the qibla. He makes signs with his head for the ruku' and the sajda. A conscious but sick person who cannot perform namaz by such signs and who cannot perform his prayers for more than a day, does not make qada of any of them. So is the case with a person who, for some reason not caused by himself or due to an illness, remains unconscious or oblivious so as to forget the number of sajdas or rakats for more than a period comprising five salats. One who becomes unconscious by taking alcoholic drinks, narcotics or a medicine has to make qada of all the prayers he has not performed even if they stretch over a period of several days.

 A person who finds himself on his death-bed before having performed his prayers, though he could have performed them at least with signs, must order that the kaffarat of his prayers be made. The kaffarat of namaz is to give half a sa' [1750 gr.] of wheat to a poor Muslim for each namaz. The person whom he has enjoined it upon or one of his heirs must give it. It must be given out of one-third of the property which the person who enjoined it has left behind. If he did not order it while dying, it is not necessary for anyone to give it.

 Even if the number of prayers that have not been performed is more than five, they must be performed as soon as possible. There is no need to hurry for the sajda-i tilawat or for the qada of fasting. It is not sinful to delay them.

 A person who becomes a Muslim in dar-ul-harb does not make qada of the prayers of namaz which he did not perform until he heard that namaz is fard. When a renegade becomes a Muslim again he does not have to make qada of the prayers of namaz that he had performed before he turned a renegade or those that he did not perform after becoming a renegade, nor does he make qada of the fasts. But he has to make hajj again. He makes qada of those fard prayers which he did not perform before turning a renegade. It is a grave sin for a Muslim not to do the fard. His sins are not pardoned when he becomes a renegade.

 When you are sick it is permissible to make qada of the prayers you did not perform while you were healthy by making a tayammum or with signs. When you recover you do not have to perform them again. A person who is making qada must not let others know of it. It is sinful to omit namaz, and must be kept secret.

 There are two justifiable reasons for leaving a namaz that is fard or wajib to qada knowingly. The first one is based on your being confronted by an enemy. The second one applies for a traveling person - a person who is on a journey even if he has not intended to go a distance of three days - who fears a thief, a wild animal, a flood, or a storm. When such people cannot perform namaz even with signs, by sitting, by turning towards a direction, or on an animal, they can leave it to qada. It is not sinful to leave the fards to qada for one of these two reasons or to miss them as a result of falling asleep or forgetting. After stating that it is mustahab to delay night prayer until one-third of the time allotted for it has passed, they (scholars) add, "It is not haram to go to sleep after a prayer time has begun and thus to miss the prayer, yet it is tahrimi makruh. If you ask someone to wake you up or set the alarm clock, it will not be makruh to go to sleep after the prayer time has begun. It is written in the explanation of Ashbah by Kara Celebizada, "It is acceptable to perform namaz after its appointed time in order to save those who are about to drown or the like." But it is fard to make qada of it [as soon as the excuse ceases to exist]. Only, with the exception of the three times during which it is haram to perform namaz, it is permissible to delay the prayers of qada long enough to earn sustenance for your household and to supply your indispensable needs provided you will perform the qada prayers in your free time. You become sinful if you delay them any longer. As a matter of fact, Rasulullah (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) performed the four prayers, which they had not been able to perform because of the severity of the war of Handak (Trench), in jamaat on the same night though the Sahaba (radiallahu anhum) were wounded and very tired.

 The savants of the Hanafi Madhhab declare unanimously that it has been commanded that prayers that are sunnat must be performed only during their appointed time. Those sunnat prayers which one cannot perform in time do not remain as one's debts. Therefore, we have not been commanded to make qada of them. However, since the sunnat of the morning prayer is close to wajib, when it cannot be performed in time, it is performed together with its fard before noon that day. The sunnat of the morning prayer cannot be made qada of in the afternoon, and the sunnats of other prayers can never be made qada of. If you make qada of it you do not get the blessings of a sunnat, but you get the blessings of supererogatory prayer.

 There are two kinds of a Muslim's not performing a namaz in its prescribed time:

 1 - His not performing it due to some excuse. It is called fawt to miss a namaz due to some excuse. A sunnat is omitted in order not to commit a haram, a makruh or a bidat, not to miss or even not to delay a fard or a wajib. It is permissible, and even necessary, to omit the sunnats for these reasons and purposes. In fact, it is sinful not to omit it in such cases. It is not sinful to miss a fard prayer with an excuse, either, but it must be made qada of immediately.

 2 - His omitting namaz because of laziness though he knows that namaz is his duty and esteems it highly. It is not sinful to omit the sunnats insistently without an excuse, but it will cause your being questioned and scolded in the next world. Kamaladdin ibni Humam said that it would be sinful not to perform a fard or a wajib, and that not performing the sunnats would cause one to be deprived of their blessings and high grades." But in Halabi-yi saghir: "It has been said by savants that it is not sinful to omit the sunnat of morning prayer and other muakkad sunnats. However, it will cause one to be deprived of their blessings, high grades, and one will be scolded." But omitting the fard prayers without an excuse is a very grave sin. Therefore, in explaining the prayers of qada, books of din say, "A Muslim omits his prayer of namaz only with an excuse. For this reason, every book mentions Faita, that is, the qada of missed prayers." For, Muslims of the past would miss their namaz only for reasons they could not help. None of them would omit it without an excuse. It is written in the books Umdat-ul-Islam and Jami'-ul-fatawa: "When in front of the enemy, omitting a namaz while it is possible to perform it is as sinful as committing seven hundred grave sins." As it is seen, faita namaz means namaz that has been left to qada. Omitted namaz also means namaz that has been left to qada. Namaz that has been left to qada can be expressed with the word 'faita' as well as with the word 'omitted'. Using these two words inter changeably for this purpose does not indicate that rules pertaining to faita namaz are the same as those pertaining to omitted namaz. Faita namaz is a namaz that is not sinful, (that is, one does not become sinful on account of faita namaz). Omitted namaz, on the other hand, incurs a grave sin. For example, a fighter for Islam is a human being. A murderer is a human being, too. That both of them are human does not eliminate the fact that the murderer is sinful. Nor does it abrogate the thawab which the fighter for Islam deserves.

 It is deemed permissible by savants that a person who has left some of his prayers to qada for reasons prescribed by the Shariat may not perform those prayers instead of the sunnats of the five daily prayers and may not omit the sunnats. Yet during the times when the books of din were written there was not a single person who did not perform namaz in Islamic countries. Nor was there anyone who left namaz to qada without an excuse. And there were few people who left namaz to qada with an excuse. But now there are few who perform namaz. And the number of prayers that many of them have omitted is a matter of years. Because they have omitted their prayers without any excuse they have become very sinful. Seeing these facts, in order not to die with debts of namaz, and to escape the torment in Hell, those who have omitted their prayers without an excuse should, at least, intend to make qada when performing the sunnats of four of the five daily prayers. Yet, because the sunnat of morning prayer is strongly emphasized, the sunnat of morning prayer must be performed with the intention of sunnat.

 Hadrat Sayyid Abdulhakim Arwasi (rahmatullahi alaih), who was an expert in the knowledge of fiqh in all four Madhhabs, said, "Those who do not perform namaz because of laziness, and those who have years of debts of namaz, when they begin performing namaz, should make their niyyat to make qada of the first omitted namaz of the time as they perform the sunnat of each prayer. It is required in all four Madhhabs that they perform the sunnats by making their niyyat for the namaz of qada. In the Hanafi Madhhab it is a grave sin to leave namaz to qada without an excuse. This very grave sin becomes double as each free time that is long enough to perform namaz passes. For it is fard also to make qada of namaz in your free time as soon as possible. To get rid of this terrible sin, which cannot be calculated or measured, and for escaping its torment, it is necessary to perform the sunnats of four daily prayers, - with the exception of the morning prayer - and the first, final, and time sunnats of Friday prayer by making the niyyat to make the qada of the omitted fard prayers, and to perform the Witr namaz instead of the final sunnat of night prayer. The Hanafi books contain many evidences to prove that this is true.

 To perform the sunnat with the intention of making qada, you must perform the first sunnat of the early afternoon prayer, which has four rakats, by intending to make qada of the fard of the earliest early afternoon prayer that you have not performed. When performing the final sunnat of the early afternoon prayer you must intend to make qada of the fard of the first omitted morning prayer. When performing the sunnat of the late afternoon prayer you must make qada with the intention of the fard of the earliest late afternoon prayer. When performing the sunnat of the evening prayer you must make qada with the intention of the three-rakat fard of the earliest evening prayer. When performing the first sunnat of night prayer you must intend to make qada of the to fard of the earliest night prayer, and when performing the final sunnat of the night prayer you must intend to make qada of the earliest omitted Witr prayer and perform three rakats. Thus each day you will pay the debt of a day's qada. Also when performing the namaz of tarawih you must make qada by intending to make qada. You must go on doing this for as many years as the number of years during which you have left your prayers to qada. After finishing your prayers of qada you must begin performing the sunnats again." [See chapter 13!]

 [Instead of making the namaz of tarawih you must make qada in your home. For it is written in books of din that a person who omits the fard prayers will not be given blessings for his sunnat prayers. When certain people perform the namaz of tarawih in jamaat in the mosque of a quarter or in a house, a person who has debts of qada namaz or who cannot trust that the imam's namaz is acceptable performs the namaz of tarawih in jamaat in the mosque in order to guide the young beginners of namaz and to accustom them to performing namaz and to pre vent any gossip or fitna. Yet he does not intend to follow the imam. He pretends to follow the imam. He makes qada. If the imam is making the salam after every two rakats, this person intends to make qada of the fard of morning prayers, and if the imam is making the salam at the end of four rakats, this person intends to make qada of the fard of other prayers of namaz. If he cannot conform his actions to the imam's actions, he intends to perform the Tarawih and follows the imam.

 The number of prayers that could not be performed and were left to qada for the prescribed two reasons or because of sleeping and forgetting is very small, so their qada can be made up in a day. In this case it is not necessary to perform the sunnats with the intention of qada. Moreover, since it is not sinful to miss them with an excuse, delaying their qada long enough to perform the sunnats does not cause one to begin being sinful.

 It is a grave sin not to perform the fard namaz in its prescribed time without an excuse or because of laziness. After committing a grave sin, it is necessary to make tawba (repent) so that one can be forgiven. A sincere tawba (repentance) requires four conditions: feeling deep repentance; deciding not to commit it again; invoking Allahu ta'ala to forgive you and expressing tawba; fulfilling the rights of Allahu ta'ala and His slaves. If any one of these four conditions is absent, that sin will not be forgiven. Such people must fulfill the rights of Allahu ta'ala as soon as possible by performing the sunnats of four daily prayers with the intention of qada every day. The additional sura is not recited in the third and fourth rakats of a qada namaz.

 It is written in Imdad and on the four hundred and fiftieth page of Ibni Abidin: "The sunnat is omitted in order not to delay the wajib." After saying the same thing on its three hundred and sixteenth page, it goes on, "When performing namaz in jamaat, it is fard to follow the imam in actions that are fard. It is wajib to follow him in the wajibs. And it is sunnat to follow him in the sunnats. Following the imam means doing the action with him or after him, or waiting for the imam if you have begun before the imam. For example, it means to follow the imam to bow for the ruku' together with the imam or to bow after the imam and catch up with him in the ruku' or to bow after the imam straightens up from the ruku' or, after bowing and straightening before the imam (if you have done so), to bow again together with the imam or after him. If you do not bow again you will not have followed the imam; you will have omitted the fard, and your namaz will be nullified. And it is wajib again to act together with the imam in the fards and in the wajibs. If the imam straightens up from the ruku' before a person has said the tasbih of ruku' three times, it is wajib for him to straighten up together with the imam instead of completing the tasbihs. The sunnat must be omitted not to delay the wajib." For not delaying the wajib it is necessary not to complete the tasbihs and to omit that sunnat. The sunnats that are inside namaz are stronger than any sunnat outside namaz. For example, reading the Qur'an al-karim is sunnat and there are innumerable blessings in doing it. But it has been declared in a hadith ash- Sharif that there are more blessings in reciting the Qur'an al-karim during namaz. The hadith ash-Sharif is written on the twenty-second page of Khazinat-ul-asrar together with its proofs. This also should make us realize that it is necessary to omit the sunnats in order to get rid of a grave sin by making qada of those prayers of namaz that have been omitted without an excuse. Nevertheless a person who performs the sunnats with the intention of making qada has not omitted the sunnats by doing so.

 As we have explained while describing the namaz in jamaat in the twentieth chapter, a person who comes to the mosque as the imam begins conducting the morning prayer performs the sunnat outside the mosque or behind a pillar inside the mosque. Then he follows the imam. If he cannot find such a place that is apart from the jamaat, he must not perform the sunnat behind the jamaat. He must begin to follow the imam immediately. For it is makruh to begin performing namaz alone as namaz is being performed in jamaat. The sunnat of morning prayer is omitted in order not to commit a makruh. According to this piece of writing from Durr-ul-mukhtar, it is necessary to make qada instead of the sunnats. Since even the strongest sunnat, the sunnat of the morning prayer, is omitted in order to avoid a makruh, a sunnat must certainly be omitted to avoid a haram. Thus, the namaz of qada performed instead of a sunnat saves one from a grave sin.

 Some people, particularly people who are religiously ignorant who present themselves as men of din, attempt to distort the words of great authorities of Islamic knowledge. Yet, because they know nothing, nor anything based upon any book, they say whatever occurs to their minds in the name of an objection. Possessing so much pride in themselves, they make gratuitous assertions. For instance, there are those who say, "No sir, qada of the fards cannot be made in place of the sunnats. I cannot accept it. Instead of wasting time sitting for hours in a coffee-house, let them perform their prayers of qada. Why should one omit the sunnats!" Yes, the word, "Let them perform their prayers of qada instead of sitting for hours in the coffee-house," is right. But it is wrong to say, "One must not omit the sunnats in order to make the qada." It is very sinful not to make the prayers of qada and to waste time. Yet to ask a person who has already committed those sins not to make the qada instead of the sunnats means to ask him to commit a third sin. It would be like asking a person who has debts of qada and who wastes his time instead of performing his qada prayers to gamble or to drink alcohol, too, since he has already sinned. The great saying of our superiors is well-known: "If something cannot be done as a whole, it must not be given up as a whole." Then, a person who has omitted his prayers without an excuse should not miss the opportunity of making qada instead of the sunnats and thus rid himself of this grave sin. As a matter of fact, a person who does not perform namaz should not give up fasting too.

 It is written on the same page of Tahtawi: "The sunnat of morning prayer is very virtuous. It is enjoined in many hadith ash-Sharifs to perform it. There are countless blessings in it. But there is no punishment declared even for a person who omits the sunnat of the morning prayer. However, it is declared that a person who performs the fard not in jamaat but alone will go to Hell. This means to say that the value of jamaat is very much greater than even the sunnat of the morning prayer."

 Ibni Abidin says, "If a person comes to the mosque when the imam is in the second rakat of the morning prayer he must omit the sunnat and follow the imam. For the sunnat cannot equal even one of the twenty-seven blessings of the fard caused by the jamaat." Since the strongest sunnat, the sunnat of the morning prayer, is omitted in order to catch up with the jamaat, it must certainly be omitted in order to perform the fard. Hence, also, it is understood that in order not to die with debts of qada it is necessary to perform the sunnats with the intention of qada.

 Hadrat Sheikh Syed Abdul-Qadir Jilani (Rahmatullahi alayh) says in the forty-eighth article of his book Futuh-ul-ghayb, which was printed in India in 1313 [1896]: A believer must do the fards first. When the fards are finished the sunnats must be done. Next he goes on with the supererogatory. It is idiocy to perform the sunnats while one has debts of fard. The sunnats of a person who has debts of fard are not acceptable. Ali Ibni Abi Talib (radiallahu anh) reports: Rasulullah (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) stated: "If a person has omitted his fard prayers and has debts of qada, his performing the supererogatory is useless trouble. Unless he pays his qada, Allahu ta'ala will not accept his supererogatory prayers." Abdulhaq-i Dahlawi, one of the savants of Hanafi Madhhab, explains this hadith quoted by Sheikh Syed Abdul-Qadir Jilani as follows: "This information shows that the sunnats and the supererogatory prayers of those who have debts of fards will not be accepted. We know that the sunnats complete the fards. This means that while doing the fard if something is omitted which would otherwise have caused the fard to reach perfection then the sunnats will cause the fard performed to reach perfection. The unacceptable sunnats of a person who has debts of fards are good for nothing." This explanation of Futuh-ul-ghayb is in Persian and exists at number 3866 in the State Library at Bayazid in Istanbul.

 Also Ibni Abidin says on the subject of supererogatory prayers, "A hadith ash-Sharif declares that 'The incomplete namaz, zakat and other fard worships are completed with the supererogatory.' Imam-i Baihaki has remarked that this hadith ash-Sharif meant that if the sunnats within fards remained incomplete they would be completed with the supererogatory, and that it did not mean that the supererogatory would replace the fards that had not been performed. As a matter of fact, another hadith ash-Sharif declares, 'If a person has not completed his namaz, his supererogatory prayers of namaz are added to that namaz until it is completed.' He remarked that this hadith showed that the supererogatory prayers would complete not those prayers of namaz that had not been performed but those which had been performed incompletely. Also, the Tahtawi explanation of Imdad quotes a hadith ash-Sharif on its two hundred and forty-seventh page and points out that the sunnats will make up for the defects in the performed fards. And the savants who are not in the Hanafi Madhhab, such as Imam-i Ghazali and Ibni Arabi, say that the supererogatory prayers will replace those fards that have been missed because of good excuses."

 It is written in Uyun-ul-basair that Imam-i Baihaki has said that the sunnats would compensate for the defects in those fards that have been performed because none of the sunnats could ever be like a wajib. As a matter of fact, in a hadith al-qudsi Allahu ta'ala declares: "A person can approach Me with none as he approaches Me by doing the worship which I have enjoined as fard upon him."

 As is seen, according to some Islamic savants, the supererogatory prayer will make up for the defects in those fard prayers that have been performed. And some of them say that they will also re place those fard prayers that have been missed with an excuse. But even those savants do not say that those who have committed a grave sin by not performing their namaz because of laziness can make use of that hadith ash-Sharif. The fact is, the supererogatory prayers of those who do not perform the fard prayers are not acceptable. How can they ever be good for completing the fard, then? It is not permissible for us muqallids to set aside these two different ijtihads of our savants, which we have communicated, and to say a third one. Ibni Malak (rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih) says in his explanation of Menar: "It has been declared unanimously by savants that when mujtahids' words concerning some matter about the din disagree with one another it is useless for later savants to explain the matter concerned differently from what the mujtahids have said."

 According to this ijma' (unanimity of savants), it would be silly to say that the supererogatory prayers will replace those fard prayers that have not been performed because of laziness. A laMadhhabi person who cannot understand the words of mujtahids or who slights them though he understands them may talk any twaddle that occurs to him.

 In explaining the prayers that are to be recited after each fard namaz, the book, Maraqil- falah and Imdad-ul-fattah state: "The imam turns towards the jamaat after the fard if there is no supererogatory prayer to be performed after the fard, or after performing the supererogatory prayer (if there is any)." Durr al-mukhtar writes, "It is makruh for the imam to perform the supererogatory prayer where he performs the fard. He should perform it somewhat to his left." These statements and the explanation in the book Khazinat-ul-asrar show clearly that the prayers that are performed in the name of the sunnat with the five daily prayers are supererogatory.

 Again, it is written in the same book as well as in the explanation of Tahtawi: "All sunnats are called supererogatory. Supererogatory means a worship that is neither fard nor wajib. A supererogatory prayer is either a sunnat or any worship that a person performs by his own wish. A hadith ash-Sharif declares: 'On the day of Judgement the first question will be asked concerning namaz. If one has performed namaz properly one will be saved. If namaz has been badly performed one will be in a very bad situation. If there are any defects in one's fard namaz it will be made up for by one's supererogatory prayers.' A man cannot do something perfectly no matter how high his grade is. The supererogatory prayers make up for the mistakes made in the fards."

 Sharnblali says in his explanation of Durar, "The term supererogatory namaz includes the sunnats, too. Qadi Imam-i Abu Zayd said that performing supererogatory namaz was commanded so that the defects in the fard prayers would be compensated for. If a person can perform the fard without a defect he cannot be scolded for not performing the sunnats." Ibni Abidin writes in the introduction to the section about 'the Witr namaz and performing nafila namaz on an animal that sunnats, whether muakkada or ghayr-i muakkada, are called nafila.

 The book Jawhara says quoting from al-Hidaya, "It is permissible to perform the sunnats of five daily prayers sitting without a good excuse. For these sunnats are supererogatory worships." Ibni Malak says in his explanation of Majma'ul-bahreyn, "If a person who comes to the mosque and sees that any of the daily prayers, except morning prayer, is being performed in jamaat, he does not perform the first sunnat but begins following the jamaat right away. For it is makruh to perform a supererogatory prayer after the iqamat has been said for the fard prayer. If the iqamat is said as he performs the sunnat, he makes the salam after completing two or four rakats of it, and then begins following the imam. If the iqamat is said as he performs the fard of the morning or evening prayer, he stops his fard prayer and follows the imam. For a prayer that is fard can be stopped in order to perform it better. It is like demolishing a mosque in order to build a better one. But the case is not so with stopping a sunnat in order to catch the jamaat."

 It is written in the book Al-hikam-ul-Ataiyya: "Of two jobs do the one that comes harder to your nafs! For a job that is right (liked by Allahu ta'ala) comes difficult to the nafs. To try to do the supererogatory good deeds while being slack in doing the wajibs is one of the signs of following the desires of the nafs."

 As communicated in the forty-sixth chapter of the First Fascicle of Se’adet-e-Ebediyye, Hadrat Imam-i Rabbani says, "When compared to those worships that are fard, the supererogatory worships are of no value. They are not even a drop of water compared to an ocean. The accursed satan is deceiving Muslims by misrepresenting the fard as insignificant. [He is preventing them from making their prayers of qada.] He is misleading them towards the supererogatory worships. He is preventing them from giving the zakat and misrepresenting the supererogatory alms as beautiful. In fact, to give one gold coin to a poor (Muslim) with the intention of zakat is much more blessed than giving a hundred thousand gold coins as alms. For giving the zakat is performing the fard. But giving without the intention of zakat is a supererogatory worship." He says in his two hundred and sixtieth letter, "The value of supererogatory worship, when compared to the fard, is not even like that of a drop of water compared to an ocean. In fact, so is the value of supererogatory worships in comparison to the sunnats. However, the value of a sunnat compared to a fard worships is not even like that of a drop of water compared to an ocean." As understood from all these statements quoted from Islamic savants, those who have omitted their prayers of namaz without an excuse must look for ways of escaping Hell's torment by making qada of them as soon as possible. It does not save one from Hell to make qada from time to time by saying, "I intend to make qada of all my omitted prayers." Islamic savants teach the Shariat. We must follow not the factious and corrupt words of kafirs and bidat-holders, but the 'Ulama of Ahl-as- sunnat.

 Hadrat Abdulqadir-i Geilani (Qaddasallahu sirrahul 'aziz) says in the same chapter, "A person performing the sunnats while he has debts of qada is like a debtor taking a present to the person to whom he owes, which, normally, is not acceptable. A person who performs the sunnats while he has debts of qada is like a person who spends his time with the Sultan's servant while the Sultan himself has invited him. A believer is like a businessman. The fard prayers are his capital of which the supererogatory prayers are the profit. Unless the capital is rescued they will give no profit."

 Observed with due attention, both the hadith ash-Sharifs and the statements quoted from savants declare that the sunnats and the supererogatory prayers of a person who has debts of fard prayers are not acceptable. Not acceptable does not mean not sahih. They are sahih, but they produce no blessings, no use. The book Radd-ul-mukhtar explains this very well within the subject of Qurban. In explaining the hadith, "The hajj and the jihad of a person who commits bidats are not acceptable," the books Hadiqa and Bariqa say that: "Their worships are sahih, but they are given no rewards." [See the hadith which is written at the end of the thirteenth chapter!]

 Some people say, "Performing the sunnats with the intention of qada is in the Shafi'i Madhhab. We are Hanafis, not Shafi'is." It would be pertinent to remind them that the author of this book, Endless Bliss, is in the Hanafi Madhhab, too. Those Shafi'is who miss a namaz that is fard because of some excuse make qada of it together with its sunnat. But the Hanafis make qada of only the missed fard. The case is not so with a namaz that has been omitted because of laziness. A Shafi'i or a Hanafi who omits the namaz has to make qada of it immediately. If he does not make its qada immediately he will be punished with hadd, and killed if he is in the Shafi'i Madhhab. But if he is in the Hanafi Madhhab he will be put into jail, and will be kept in the dungeon until he makes his qada or dies. Hadrat Ibni Hajar-i Makki, one of the savants of the Shafi'i Madhhab, says on the hundred and eighty- ninth page of his book Fatawa-i fiqhiyya, "A person who does not perform a namaz that is fard makes its qada together with its supererogatory prayer, that is, its sunnat. For in the Shafi'i Madhhab it is sunnat to make qada of supererogatory prayers, that is, the sunnats, which are performed together with the fards of five daily prayers. If one has omitted the fard without an excuse one cannot perform any supererogatory prayer before making its qada because one has to make qada of the fard immediately. The time which one spends performing the sunnats delays the qada of the fard. To say that one has to make its qada means to say that one has to spend his earliest free time making the qada. That is, with the exception of the time that one may reserve for earning his sustenance and the sustenance of those who it is wajib for one to support, it is not permissible for one to delay the qada for any other reason, or else one will become sinful." As it is seen, it is necessary to make qada of the prayers of namaz omitted without an excuse immediately in the Shafi'i Madhhab as well as in the Hanafi Madhhab. There is no difference between the two Madhhabs. On things that are declared clearly in the Qur'an al-karim and in hadith ash-Sharifs, Madhhabs do not disagree with one another. They may disagree on things that are not declared clearly but which are inferred through ijtihad. It is declared clearly by a hadith reported by Hadrat Ali that the supererogatory worships of those who have debts of fard will not be accepted. When mentioned with the word fard, the word nafila (supererogatory) includes the muakkad sunnats, too. This fact is not only shown by Hadrat Abdulqadir-i Geilani's word, but it is also written clearly in the books of Hanafi savants, e.g. in Halabi al-kabir.

 Some other people say, "Qada is not made instead of the sunnats. For qada can be made any time. But a sunnat cannot be compensated for. To say that qada is made instead of a sunnat is the word of those who cannot realize the importance of the sunnats." It is wrong to delay the qada of omitted prayers of namaz by saying that qada can be made at any time. For it is a grave sin to delay the performance of qada. We have not been commanded to compensate for the omitted sunnats. Why, then, should there be the question of whether or not it will be possible to compensate for them? Ibni Abidin says on the four hundred and thirty-third page: "A wajib is omitted for reasons prescribed by the Shariat. Then a sunnat must certainly be omitted for reasons prescribed by the Shariat.

 It is written in the book Maraqilfalah and its explanation, Tahtawi: "It is tahrimi makruh to perform a supererogatory namaz after the fard of the morning prayer until sunrise. If you have not performed the sunnat of the morning prayer beforehand, performing it is also in the same prohibition. This time is allotted to perform the fard only. That is, a person who does not perform namaz after the fard until sunrise is considered to be performing the fard all the time. And this is better than performing any supererogatory namaz even if it were the sunnat of the morning prayer. Yet it is not makruh to make qada prayers during that time. To perform the fard is better than performing the sunnat. And making qada, in its turn, is an act of performing a real fard, which is much better." It is also understood that the sunnats are supererogatory namaz. It is written clearly in Jawhara that the sunnats are supererogatory namaz and can be performed on an animal without an excuse.

 It is written on the same page: "When there is very little time left of a particular time of namaz, it is tahrimi makruh to perform a supererogatory namaz because it causes loss of time for the fard. This would mean to miss the namaz which is necessary by performing the namaz which is not necessary. Of course, this is something which a reasonable person would not do. So is the case with performing a supererogatory prayer as the sun rises, when it is right on top, or as it sets, even if the supererogatory prayer performed is one of the sunnats of the five daily prayers." It is written on the hundred and forty-ninth page of Hadiqa: "If performing the sunnat which is before the fard while there is little time left will cause the fard to be left to qada, it is haram to perform the sunnat." It is written in the subject concerning the afflictions incurred by the tongue: "It is not permissible to omit something which is fard in order to do something which is not fard."

 As is written in many Hanafi books, e.g. in the books Durr-ul-mukhtar, Ibni Abidin, Durrul-muntaqa, an explanation of the book Multaqa, and in Nimat-i Islam: "A judge or a pupil may omit the sunnat of any namaz except the sunnat of the morning prayer, the former in order to do his duty and the latter not be late for his class on din." While a judge's duty is counted as an excuse for omitting the sunnats though it is not fard-i 'ayn, why shouldn't it be an excuse to pay the debts of qada, which are fard-i 'ayn and for which there will be vehement punishment?

 There are countless blessings for those who perform the sunnats and some supererogatory prayers. Yet these blessings are for those who do not have any qada. It is wrong to perform the qada prayers when there is time only for the fard and to go on with supererogatory prayers just because there are abundance of blessings in them. The interpretation of Ruh-ul-Bayan explains the hundred and sixty-fifth ayat of Anam sura as follows: "In order to encourage His slaves to doing good deeds, Allahu ta'ala has promised many blessings. That it has been declared that innumerable rewards will be given for them does not show that they are better than those worships which are commanded but for which not many blessings has been promised. As declared unanimously by savants, the fards are superior to the wajibs and to the sunnats, and there are more blessings in them. Supererogatory worships do not substitute for those fard worships that have not been done. The debts for the fards cannot be paid by doing the supererogatory prayers. The ignorant set aside the fard prayers and do the supererogatory prayers. Learning that there are limitless blessings in the supererogatory, they believe they will thus rid their debts for the fards. Their statements are incompatible with the Shariat." Zarqani says in his explanation of Mawahib, "He who makes qada instead of the sunnats gains a profit. He who performs the sunnats instead of the fard deceives himself." As written on the two hundred and twelfth page of the Tahtawi explanation of Nur-ul-izah, Qadihan says that performing the sunnat before the fard has been commanded in order to frustrate Satan, to make him sorry. Satan becomes sorry because he thinks that he can never deceive man in not doing the fards which Allahu ta'ala commands since he cannot deceive man even in the sunnats which Allahu ta'ala does not command. This fact is also written in Durr-ul-mukhtar and in Radd-ul-mukhtar.

 In explaining how to make qada of omitted prayers in his book An-nawadir-ul-fiqhiyya fi Madhhab-il-aimmat-il hanafiyya, copies of which exist at number 1037 in the Asad Effendi 'rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih' section and at number 1463 in the Yahya Tevfik Effendi section of the public library of Sulaimaniyya in Istanbul, Muhammad Sadiq Effendi, the (then) Qadi of Jerusalem, says, "The great savant Ibni Nujaym was asked if a person has left some of his prayers of namaz to qada and if he performs the sunnats of the morning, early-afternoon, late-afternoon, evening, and night prayers with the intention of making their qada, will he have omitted the sunnats?"

 His answer was: "He will not have omitted the sunnats. For the purpose in performing the sunnats of the five daily prayers is to perform another namaz in addition to the fard of each prayer time. The devil will always try to prevent you from performing namaz. By performing one more prayer in addition to the fard you will have resisted, disgraced Satan. It is written in Nawadir that by making qada instead of the sunnats you will have performed the sunnats, too. To fulfill the sunnat by performing one more prayer in addition to the fard of each prayer time, those who have debts of qada must make qada. Many people are performing the sunnats instead of making qada. They will go to Hell. But a person who makes qada instead of the sunnats will be saved from Hell."

 Ibni Nujaym (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih) states in Ashbah: "Avoiding prohibitions and harams has precedence over doing good and useful things. A hadith declares: "Do my commands as well as you can. Avoid what I have prohibited!" Another hadith ash-Sharif declares: "Not to do a mote of something prohibited is more blessed than the worships of all people and genies." For this reason a wajib may be omitted when there is great difficulty. Yet permission is never given for doing the prohibitions, especially if they are grave sins." While explaining the istinja, Ibni Abidin says, "If it is impossible for you to clean najasat without exposing your awrat parts you must perform namaz in that state. For it is a command to clean (the najasat), but it is a prohibition to expose your awrat parts. Avoiding sins has priority. The sunnats come even after the commands. The sunnats are fulfilled in order to receive blessings. A sunnat cannot be performed by doing something that is makruh. But a fard can be performed, so that the debt will be paid. For example, it is makruh to make an ablution with someone else's water, but the taharat, which is fard, can be made. When a person who has an ablution makes an ablution with someone else's water he does not get the blessings of the sunnat." Therefore, this also shows that getting rid of a grave sin by making qada has priority over performing the sunnats.

 Hadrat Imam-i Rabbani (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih) says in his twenty-ninth letter: "Deeds that Allahu ta'ala likes can be divided into two groups. The first group makes up the fard, which He has commanded, and the second consists of those things that are not fard. They are called nafila (supererogatory). When compared to the fards, the supererogatory things are of no value. Doing one fard in its prescribed time, [or making qada of it if its prescribed time is over], is better than doing the supererogatory worships with a pure intention for a thousand years. So is the case with all supererogatory worships, such as namaz, alms, fasting and dhikr. In fact, so is the case with observing one sunnat or adab of a fard or with avoiding one of its makruhs when doing a fard. Supererogatory worships done along with the fards are valuable. Because it is fard to give the zakat, giving one gold coin as zakat is better than giving gold coins as heavy as a mountain in the name of alms." He says in his one hundred and twenty-third letter: "A hadith ash-Sharif de clears: 'A person's spending his time on malayani signifies that Allahu ta'ala does not like him.' Malayani means useless deeds. Doing supererogatory worships instead of doing one fard is spending time on malayani." And he says in his two hundred and sixtieth letter: "Compared to the fard, the supererogatory worships are not as valuable as a drop of water compared to an ocean. Likewise is the value of the sunnat when compared to the fard." Please see the first chapter in the first part of Turkish version.

 It is written in the four hundred and fifty-eighth page of Durr-ul-mukhtar: "A person who wants to perform a supererogatory namaz must first vow to perform namaz, and then perform the vowed namaz instead of making the supererogatory namaz. There are also those savants who say that the supererogatory prayers must be performed without making a vow. A person who performs those prayers of namaz that are sunnat after vowing them will have performed the sunnats themselves." Explaining these lines, Ibni Abidin (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih) says, "Those savants who say that prayers of namaz must be performed without vowing mean that they must not be vowed by stipulating a condition, for otherwise the condition stipulated will have been made equivalent to a worship. A hadith ash-Sharif prohibits any vow being dependent upon such a condition, such as: 'I shall fulfill my such and such a worship if Allahu ta'ala restores my (father, etc.) to health.' But the case is not so with vowing worships without stipulating a condition. It is wajib to perform a vowed prayer; you will be given the blessings of a wajib. When you perform the vowed namaz instead of the sunnat you will have performed the sunnat, too." That it is better to vow the sunnats in advance and then to perform them as vowed namaz is written at the end of the subject concerning supererogatory prayers in the book Halabi and in the Maraq-il-falah explanation of Tahtawi. Thus, if a person says, "May it be my vow to perform a namaz of four rakats," before performing the sunnat of the early afternoon prayer and then performs it with the intention of a vowed namaz, he will both get the reward of a wajib and will have performed the sunnat of early afternoon prayer. Since a slave will not have omitted the sunnat when he performs the namaz which he has made wajib for himself, he absolutely will not have omitted the sunnat when he performs the namaz that has been made fard by Allahu ta'ala. He will both have made the qada and have performed the sunnat. For, it is a grave sin to omit the fard prayers because of laziness. It is fard to make tawba for every sin immediately.

 Those who assert that one cannot intend for prayers of qada while performing the sunnats cannot propose any valuable books to corroborate their antithesis when they are asked why not. Instead, they say that it is written in Ibni Abidin, in Halabi and in the Imdad explanation of Tahtawi that "The qada of those prayers that have been omitted with fawt must be made up as soon as possible. Making qada of prayers omitted with fawt is better and more important than performing supererogatory prayers, but the case is not so with performing the sunnats of the five daily prayers and the certain prayers that have been praised by hadith ash-Sharifs, such as the namaz of Duha, the namaz of Tasbih, the namaz of Tahiyyatulmasjid, the four rakats of sunnat before late afternoon prayer and the six rakats of sunnat after evening prayer. These must be performed with the intention of a supererogatory prayer." This writing is intended for those who have omitted the fard of the five daily prayers with fawt, that is, for reasons that could not be helped. It says that the qada of those prayers that have been missed thus must not be performed instead of the sunnats, but they must be performed separately. We agree with this entirely. We accept that there is no need to make the qada of a few fard prayers missed with an excuse instead of the sunnats. For it is not a guilt or sin, we say, to leave namaz to qada because of an excuse, nor is it sinful to postpone its qada until you have performed the sunnats. But being unable to perform namaz because of an excuse is different from omitting it knowingly, which involves not performing it because of laziness. The former is not a sin. But the latter is a grave sin. It is quite wrong to confuse the two cases with each other. Reading in books that the fard prayers missed with an excuse cannot be performed instead of the sunnats, and to suppose thereby that the fard prayers that have been omitted because of laziness cannot be performed instead of the sunnats either and, furthermore, to attempt to employ the former as an evidence, as a proof for the latter, is not worthy of a man of knowledge. This statement in Hanafi books does not say that "those who have committed a grave sin by not performing the fard prayers because of laziness cannot perform the sunnats with the intention of qada." Furthermore, it says that the sunnats are supererogatory prayers and are to be performed with the intention of a supererogatory worship. As is written in Jawhara, books of fiqh in the Hanafi Madhhab state: "Qada of the namaz missed with fawt," they do not say, "Qada of the namaz omitted." For a Muslim does not omit his namaz knowingly. He misses it with such excuses as unawareness, sleep or forgetfulness. The two situations must not be confused with each other.

 The importance of the fard prayers has been declared clearly in Qur'an al-karim and in hadith ash-Sharifs. For instance, it is written in the sixth page of the book Targhibussalat, which is in Persian, "Our Holy Nabi (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) declared: 'It is a grave sin to bring two prayers of fard namaz together.' That is, it is a grave sin not to perform a fard in its prescribed time and to perform it later. Another hadith ash-Sharif declares: 'Allahu ta'ala will keep a person who performs a namaz after its time is over in Hell for eighty hukbas.' This is the punishment for performing one namaz after its prescribed time. We must try to imagine the retribution for never performing namaz."

 The book Umdat-ul-Islam exists in the section of Muhammad Asad Effendi in the library of Sulaimaniyya. This book was printed by Hakikat Kitabevi in 1989. It is written in that book: "Our Holy Nabi (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) declared, 'Namaz is the arch-stone of the din. He who performs namaz has built up his din. He who does not perform namaz has demolished his din.' He declared in a hadith ash-Sharif, 'On the Day of Judgement, after iman the first question will be on namaz.' Allahu ta'ala will declare: 'O my slave, if you get over your account of namaz, safety is yours. I shall facilitate your other accounts!' Our Holy Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wassalam) declared: 'A person who omits one namaz knowingly without an excuse will remain in Hell for one hukba.' One hukba is eighty years, and one day in the next world is as long as a thousand worldly years. At it is seen, a person who omits one fard without an excuse will burn in Hell for eighty times three hundred and sixty- five thousand years. [It is written on the five hundred and tenth page of Medarij-un-Nubuwwa and on the one hundred and eighteenth page of Marifatnama: "The purpose of giving such eminent examples is not to give the number but to demonstrate the greatness and the importance of the number."] Then, shame upon those who do not perform namaz because of laziness or without an excuse! Our savants say unanimously that "A person who does not perform namaz is not acceptable as a witness. For a person who does not perform namaz is a sinner. The fard namaz is a debt which a believer owes to Allahu ta'ala. He cannot rid himself of the debt unless he performs it during its prescribed time.' It is written in the book Aqida tun-Nejah: "If a person makes tawba-i nasuh his sins will be pardoned. Unless he makes qada of his prayers of namaz they will not be pardoned only by making tawba. If he makes tawba after making qada of his prayers, there is the hope that he will be pardoned."

 Ibni Nujaym Zayn-ul-Abidin says in his book Kabair wa saghair, "It is a grave sin to perform the fard namaz [by trusting the time-table arranged incorrectly on a false calendar] before its time begins or after its time is over. A grave sin is pardoned only by making tawba. There are a number of things that will have small sins pardoned. When making tawba, one has to make qada of the prayers of namaz which one has omitted. Those savants who said that an accepted hajj would clear away grave sins did not say that the qada of the omitted prayers would not be necessary. They meant that the sin of delaying namaz without an excuse until its time was over would be pardoned. It is necessary to make the qada, too. If one does not make the qada though one is able to make the qada, one will have committed another grave sin." Namaz will be deemed to have been performed during its prescribed time if a Hanafi Muslim says takbir of tahrima before the time is over. But a Shafi'i or Maliki Muslim is not considered to have performed the namaz unless one rakat of namaz is completed before the time is over. It will be considered a small sin if namaz can not be completed within its prescribed time.

 It is written in Durr-ul-muntaqa, "A person who does not recognize namaz as a duty, who disbelieves the fact that it is fard, becomes a disbeliever. Those who become Muslim in a country of disbelievers and renegades do not have to make qada of the prayers of namaz which they had not performed until they learned that it is fard to perform namaz."

 It is written in the subject concerning the intentions of namaz in Ibni Abidin and on the twenty-sixth page of Fatawa-i kubra, "If a person performs prayers of namaz for years but does not know which ones are first sunnats and which are final sunnats and if he performs them all with the intention of a fard, all of them will be accepted. For if the sunnats are performed with the intention of a fard they will be accepted as sunnats." The one which he has performed first in every prayer time becomes the fard. The one which he has performed next becomes the sunnat. It is written in Halabi-i saghir, "If a person realizes that there has been a defect in all the prayers of namaz which he has been performing for years, - that is, if one of the twelve conditions of namaz is missing - it will be good if he makes qada of them all. If there has not been any defects in them, to make qada of them is makruh according to some savants and not makruh to other savants. Those savants who said that it would not be makruh said that one must not perform those prayers of qada after morning and late afternoon prayers or else all of them would be supererogatory [if one did not have any prayers of qada to perform]."

 It is written in the book Ashbah: "The fatwa which is sahih, dependable, shows that it is not necessary to intend for a sunnat when performing the first and final sunnats of the five prayers, that is, the muakkad sunnats. The prescribed sunnats will be sahih when performed with the intention of a supererogatory namaz or even only with the intention of namaz. That is, they will be the sunnats of the times within which they are performed. It is not necessary to intend specifically for the sunnats. Imam-i Zaylai (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih) said likewise. For example, if you perform two rakats of namaz before dawn with the intention of tahajjud (midnight prayer) and then later find out that dawn had already broken before you performed it, this namaz stands for the sunnat of the morning prayer. It is not necessary to perform the sunnat of the morning prayer again. If after sitting for the fourth rakat of the fard of early afternoon prayer you forget (to make the salam) and stand up for the fifth rakat, you make the salam after making the sixth rakat. The two rakats will become a supererogatory prayer. The reason why these two rakats are not sunnats is not because you have not intended to perform the sunnat, but because you have not begun the sunnat with a separate takbir. Also, there is a dependable report that it is not necessary to intend for tarawih when you are performing the tarawih. Likewise, if a person who does not have any early afternoon prayers left to qada intends 'to perform the last early afternoon prayer which he has not performed though he has reached its time' as he performs the four rakats after Friday prayer and if he finds out later that the Friday prayer has been sahih, these four rakats, according to a dependable and sahih report, become the sunnat of Friday prayer." It is written in its fifty-ninth page, "We have already stated that when supererogatory prayers and the prescribed sunnats are performed with the intention of namaz only, or of any kind of namaz other than the sunnats, they will be sahih.' As it is seen, any namaz performed during the time of one of the five daily prayers of namaz in addition to the time's fard namaz enables you to attain the blessings of the sunnat of the time's namaz.

 It is written on the fifty-fourth page of the book Uyun-ul-basair and in Ibni Abidin, in the chapter related to the intention of namaz: "According to profoundly learned savants, a sunnat performed with the intention of namaz only becomes sahih. For, the sunnats of five daily prayers means the namaz performed by our Holy Nabi (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam). It was afterwards that those prayers of namaz were named sunnats. When performing the sunnats of the five daily prayers, Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) used to intend, 'To perform namaz for Allah's sake.' He did not use to intend, 'To perform the sunnat.' Any namaz performed so in every prayer time becomes the namaz which is called sunnat." Similarly it is written in Halabi al-kabir, too. It is written in its fifty-second page that, as it is communicated in the book Tajnis, the sunnats of the five daily prayers are supererogatory namaz and can be performed with the intention of a supererogatory worship, too. It is written in Durr-ul-mukhtar, and also in the book Durar by Molla Husraw, "The sunnats of five daily prayers and the namaz of tarawih are originally supererogatory prayers. When performing them an intention for namaz only will suffice."

 It is written in Ibni Abidin and in the explanation of Nur-ul-izah, "It is sunnat to perform two rakats of namaz before you sit down after entering a mosque. This is called the namaz of Tahiyyatulmasjid. When you enter a mosque, if you perform the fard, the sunnat, or any other namaz, you will have performed the tahiyyatulmasjid, too. The namaz that is performed does not need the special intention of tahiyyatulmasjid. For the purpose of performing the tahiyyatulmasjid is to respect Allahu ta'ala, who is the owner of the mosque. And the namaz which you perform serves this purpose." While explaining the namaz of Tahiyyatulmasjid, Ibni Abidin 'rahmatullahi ta'ala alaih' says, "When beginning the fard of the early afternoon prayer, if you make two intentions, one for the fard and one for the sunnat, you will have performed the fard only. But according to Imam-i Muhammad the namaz will not be accepted. For the fard and the sunnat are two different kinds of namaz. According to the two imams, you have performed the more important one. Because any namaz which you perform after you enter a mosque stands for the namaz of tahiyyatulmasjid, it is permissible to intend for the namaz of tahiyyatulmasjid while performing a fard prayer, according to Imam-i Muhammad as well. When you intend for the fard, too, you will have been deemed to have performed both the fard and the sunnat." Even though the time's fard and sunnat are different from each other, because of the fact that the sunnat means all the other prayers except the fard, the similarity between the sunnat and the qada prayer is like the similarity between tahiyyatulmasjid and the fard.

 It is stated in the thirtieth page of Ashbah, "A worship's causing thawab does not require its being sahih. A sincere and true intention is a must. If a worship performed with a sincere and true intention becomes fasid inadvertently, it will not be sahih. However, because one has made niyyat (true intention), it will cause much thawab. For instance, a namaz performed without an ablution though one thinks one has had an ablution will not be sahih. Yet one will be given much thawab in return for one's niyyat. If a person finds some najs water and yet thinks it is clean and makes an ablution with it and performs namaz, his namaz will not be sahih because one of its conditions has not been fulfilled; however, he will be given thawab owing to his intention. On the other hand, a namaz that is sahih because it has been performed with all its conditions fulfilled will not be given any thawab if it has been performed for ostentation." A person who makes qada instead of a namaz that is sunnat will not have omitted the sunnat; yet, for attaining thawab for the sunnat as well, he should make niyyat, that is, pass through his heart the intention to perform the sunnat as well, as he makes the qada.

 If a person without any debts of qada makes qada instead of a namaz which is sunnat, his namaz becomes supererogatory. We have stated earlier that the thawab for a supererogatory namaz is quite insignificant when compared to the thawab for a namaz that is sunnat.

 Shaikh-ul-Islam Ahmad bin Sulaiman (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih), in his book Sharh-i hadith-i arbain, explains the hadith ash-Sharif, "My shafaat has become haram for one who omits my sunnat," as follows:

 In this hadith ash-Sharif the word sunnat means the way of Islam. For even if a believer commits a grave sin he will not be deprived of (the Holy Nabi's) shafaat. A hadith declares, "I shall do shafaat (intercede) for those who have committed grave sins." It is necessary to obey the Shariat which Rasulullah (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) brought from Allahu ta'ala. A person who abandons this can not attain shafaat. It is written in the book Shir'at-ul-Islam, "The sunnat in this hadith ash-Sharif denotes things that are wajib to do. And this is the way followed by the Sahaba, by the Tabiin and by the Taba'i Tabiin (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain). Those who hold fast to this sunnat are called the Ahl-as-Sunnat. Then, the meaning of the hadith is that those who disagree with the Ahl-as-Sunnat in facts to be believed and in actions to be done or to be avoided will not attain the shafaat."

 [Also, the hadith ash-Sharif, "At a time when fitna and depravity are widespread among my Ummat, a person who holds fast to my sunnat will attain the blessings of a hundred martyrs," means: "A person who follows instructions according to the Shariat as it was during the time of the Salaf-i salihin will attain the blessings of a hundred martyrs."] It is written in Riyad un-nasihin while explaining the importance of namaz, "Imam-i Nasir-ud- Din Sayyid Abul-Qasim Samarqandi says, 'This hadith ash-Sharif means that when fitna and depravity are widespread among the Ummat, a person who has the itiqad (belief) of Ahl as-sunnat wal jamaat and who perform the five daily prayers in jamaat will attain the blessings of a hundred martyrs.' " For this reason, one must first have iman agreeing with that of the Ahl-as-Sunnat, then avoid the harams, then do the fards, then avoid the makruhs, then do the muakkad sunnats, and then do the mustahabs. If a person does not do something which is earlier in this order it will be futile for him to do something which is later, and in order to do something which is earlier it is permissible and even necessary for him to omit something that comes later. For example, it will be useless in the next world for a person without iman to avoid sinning and for a person who keeps committing harams to do the fard. And it is useless for a person who does not do any of these to grow a beard. For growing a beard is the last in the order mentioned above. Nor can one say that it is bidat to shave your beard. For bidat means to do something in the name of worship, that is, in order to get blessings, though it has not been commanded by the Shariat. No Muslim shaves his beard in order to get blessings. A Muslim knows that it is makruh to shave one's beard. He knows that it is permissible to shave one's beard in order to do a more important religious duty, and thus he obeys the Shariat, the sunnat.

 It is written in Bahr-ur-raiq and in the chapter about things that will not break a fast in the Tahtawi explanation of Durr-ul-mukhtar: "It is makruh to put some ointment on your moustache or beard in order to ornament yourself. It is not makruh when you do it for jamal, that is, to remove any ugliness or to protect your dignity and honor. If adornment takes place when you do something for jamal though you do not intend for adornment, it will be acceptable. Also, it is mubah (permitted) and good to wear new, lovely clothes for jamal. Yet it is haram to wear them for arrogance. If your manners do not change when you wear them, it will be understood that they are not for arrogance. If the length of your beard is as prescribed by the sunnat, it is tahrimi makruh to put ointment on it in order to grow it longer. The length of the beard as prescribed by the sunnat is a small handful. It is wajib to clip off that part of the beard exceeding a small handful. The hadith ash-Sharif, 'Grow your beard!' does not mean, 'Grow it longer than a small handful.' It means, 'Do not grow your beard shorter than a handful', or, 'Do not shave it altogether.' The transmitter of this hadith, Abdullah Ibni 'Umar (radiallahu anhuma), clipped off that part of his beard exceeding a small handful. Not one savant said that it was mubah to have a beard shorter than a small handful. Shaving the beard is a custom of fire-worshippers and Indian Jews. It is haram to make yourself look like disbelievers." As it is seen, savants say that it is sunnat to grow a beard. Those who say that it is wajib are contradicting the Jumhur (Islamic savants' consensus) by saying so. It is haram to keep your beard shorter than a small handful or to shave it entirely in order to be like disbelievers or women. It is makruh if you do so not to be like them but to follow the custom in your country. It is bidat to say that a beard that is shorter than a small handful is sunnat. If a person slights the sunnat he becomes a disbeliever. It is written in Islamic books that it is permissible, and even necessary, to give up the sunnat when you have a prescribed excuse.]

 It is written on the seventy-first, three hundred and nineteenth, four hundred and thirty- third, and four hundred and fifty-third pages of Ibni Abidin: "A person who esteems and values the sunnats of prayers of namaz but who omits them often without an excuse or because of laziness will be scolded. But he will not be deprived of shafaat." The hadith ash-Sharif, "He who omits the sunnat which is before the early afternoon prayer will not attain my shafaat" means, "A person who omits it insistently without an excuse will not get my shafaat which is for this namaz and which will serve for his promotion." It is written in Ibni Abidin and in the two hundred and third page of the Tahtawi explanation of Imdad that omitting it with some excuse will not prevent the shafaat. Besides, when performed with the intention of qada, the sunnats will not have been omitted.

 It is written in the three hundred and ninety-sixth page of Ibni Abidin and in the one hundred and twelfth page of Majma'ul-anhur: "When a person performing a supererogatory namaz follows the imam who is performing the fard, it is not fard for him to say the additional suras in the third and fourth rakats, but it is supererogatory. For this namaz of his has taken the shape of a fard." This comes to mean that when making qada instead of the sunnats it is not fard to say the additional suras in the third and fourth rakats. It is written in the one hundred and third page of Uyun-ul-basair, "It is written in Tatarhaniyya that a person who does not know whether or not he has any prayers of namaz left to qada had better say the additional suras in the sunnats of the early afternoon, late-afternoon, and night prayers. The meaning of this is that it is better for him to intend for qada when performing the sunnats and to say the additional suras."

 It is written in detail in the 14 Zilqada - 1388 [1969] issue of a periodical named Eshshihab published in Beirut - that the virtuous Hadrat Ramiz-ul-mulk, the superintendent of fatwa in Tripoli, has given the fatwa that it is permissible to make qada instead of the sunnats when performing the fard.
 
 

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Last modified: 08/29/06