How do I make up prayers I have missed?

What the scholars agree on

The obligation itself is not in dispute. The Prophet ﷺ said:

"Whoever forgets a prayer or sleeps through it, let him pray it when he remembers it; there is no expiation for it except that."— Sahih Muslim 684, from Anas ibn Malik

Ibn Baz رحمه الله explains that this covers the one who sleeps, the one who forgets, and the one who is excused by illness — all of them make up what they missed. He adds that the majority of scholars hold that even a person who abandoned prayers deliberately must make them up, because the obligation remains a debt owed to Allah.

How to actually do it

1. Pray each missed prayer in full. IslamWeb (fatwa 28140) states that missed prayers are made up complete — you do not shorten the four-unit prayers, whether you are resident or travelling, on Friday or any other day.
2. Add them to your day, not instead of your day. Pray your five current prayers at their times, and add as many missed prayers as you can bear alongside them.
3. Spread them across the day and night. IslamWeb (fatwa 468559) notes they may be prayed at any time — before the current prayer, during its time, or after it, and even at the times when voluntary prayer is disliked.
4. Keep going until you are confident the debt is settled. If you know the number, work through it. If you do not know it, Ibn Qudamah in al-Mughni says you repeat until you are certain, or nearly certain, that your obligation is discharged.
5. Do not exhaust yourself. Ibn Qudamah sets the limit clearly: you occupy yourself with making up prayers unless it brings hardship to your body or your livelihood — weakness, fear of illness, or being cut off from earning your living. At that point you may rest and resume.

The order question

This is where the scholars genuinely differ, and the difference is real.

IslamWeb (fatwa 157871) advises the safer route: pray them in order — Fajr, then Dhuhr, then Asr, and so on — to step out of the disagreement of those who made the order obligatory. But it adds that if you pray a number of missed prayers of the same type alongside each current prayer, that is likely sufficient, because the view that order is not obligatory is a strong one.

Shaykh Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad, in his commentary on Sunan Abi Dawud, rejects a specific practice: delaying the make-up prayers and then praying Asr with Asr, Maghrib with Maghrib, and so on. He says the missed prayers should be prayed continuously, day by day, alongside that day's prayers, resting only when genuinely tired.

If you abandoned prayers deliberately

Ibn Baz رحمه الله takes a distinct position here, and it should be stated plainly. He holds that abandoning prayer deliberately, out of laziness while still believing it is obligatory, is major disbelief, and that no make-up is required — only sincere repentance and steadfastness going forward. He notes, however, that the scholars disputed this case, and that if the number of missed prayers is small — two or three — making them up anyway, to be safe and to exit the disagreement, is good.

IslamWeb, by contrast, states that the majority hold make-up obligatory even for the deliberate abandoner, citing the hadith

"Fulfil Allah's obligations owed to Him, for Allah is most deserving of fulfilment" (Sahih al-Bukhari)

.

Practical points

• A missed Friday prayer is made up as Dhuhr, not as a Friday prayer (IslamWeb, fatwa 28140).
• Do not drop your voluntary prayers to make time. IslamWeb advises against abandoning the sunnah prayers, since that loses you great reward.
• If you forgot which prayer of a day you missed, Ahmad's ruling, cited in al-Mughni, is to repeat a full day and night of prayers, since specifying the prayer is a condition of validity.
• Do not delay. The make-up is due immediately, meaning you stay occupied with it in a way that does not harm your body or your livelihood (IslamWeb, fatwa 468559).

Key takeaways

• Making up missed prayers is obligatory, not optional, and takes priority over voluntary prayer.
• Pray them in full, at any time of day or night, alongside your five current prayers.
• Pray as many as you can without harm to your health or your ability to earn — the scholars set no fixed number, only capacity.
• Praying them in order is the safer route out of scholarly disagreement, though the stronger view is that order is not obligatory.
• If you do not know how many you owe, keep making them up until you are confident the debt is cleared.

Further reading

• Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni — on the amount of make-up prayer and its limits
• Ibn Baz, Majmu' al-Fatawa — on the ruling for the deliberate abandoner
• IslamWeb fatwas 28140, 468559 and 157871 — on method, timing and order

And Allah knows best.