Eating or drinking before making up missed prayer

27-2-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. When one misses the prayer due to oversleeping by accident, is it halal to drink water before praying? And if it is permissible to drink water due to thirst that might distract from prayer etc., is it permissible for them to eat food also?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The majority of the scholars are of the view that it is an obligation to make up the missed prayers immediately, such that if one delays making up for them without a sound reason, he is sinful.

However, it is permissible to delay making up the missed prayers because of a necessity, such as eating or drinking or other needs. Ash-Sharh as-Sagheer authored by Ad-Dardeer, from the Maaliki School, reads, “An exception is made to his saying 'immediately' in his saying 'except the time of necessity', that is to say, the time of need, such as the time of eating, drinking, inevitable sleep, and answering the call of nature and gaining what he needs in his livelihood.”

Likewise, al-Iqnaa’, in the Hanbali Fiqh, reads, “If a person missed one or more obligatory prayers, then he must make up for them in sequence and immediately, unless he attended the 'Eed prayer, as long as he is not harmed in his body or his money or a living that he needs; and it is permissible to delay making up for a valid purpose such as waiting for a companion or a group to perform the prayer in congregation.”

Therefore, you are not sinful for eating or drinking before making up the missed prayer.

Allaah knows best.