Question Summary:
Qadha of Salaahs

Question Detail:

My question is how do I pray the Salah that I have been missing? I know its a sin if one don't pray his Salah on time and he have to ask for forgiveness but after that, how do I pray my Qadha Salah? I have missed my Salah for many years and it would be very difficult if I have to make the Qadha of every Salah that I missed. Do my Niyyah be like: "I make Niyyah for the first Duhr Salah that I have have missed" and so on, and pray them in the order I missed them; first Fajr that I missed, then Duhr I missed and then Asar I missed..... Or Can I just say "I make Niyyah for the Qadha Duhr" and pray my 3-4 Qadha Duhr prayers one after another with seperate Niyyah? Do I have to pray them in the correct order and make the Niyyah with the of number the Qadha Salah I am offering?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
If you missed any Fard Salah from the time you became baligh (mature or puberty), you must make Qadha (make up) for the missed Salats. The Fard Salats are; 2 fard of Fajr, 4 of Zuhr, 4 of Asr, 3 of Maghrib, 4 of Isha. Also the 3 Witr after Isha if missed would have to be made up.
If one does not know the exact number of missed (qadha) Salah, then one should apply one’s mind and make an honest estimation of the missed fard and witr Salats and make up for them. It is advisable to make an over estimate to be sure. One doesn’t need to know the dates of qadha Salah. The intention should be of for example first qadah Salah of Fajr. Once the Fajr has been performed, the next Fajr will be the first qadha of Fajr. The same procedure should be done for all missed Salats respectively.^[1]
You do not have to do the qadha of the Salats in order. You may for example, pray 3-4 Qadha of Zuhr one after the other as stated in your query. [2]
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Arshad Ali
Student Darul Iftaa
Trinidad
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
http://www.daruliftaa.net/