What is the Proper Intention for Makeup Prayers?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: My current intention for my make up prayers is for example: “i intend to pray 4 fard of dhuhr salat al qada, for all the prayers i have missed this is 57th, for Allah, facing Al Ka’ba”. Is this okay?

 

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.

Yes, the intention you have mentioned is fine.

An intention is a condition for the validity of the prayer. Thus at an absolute minimum, you should intend that it is [1] a makeup and, [2] which prayer it is (i.e. Dhuhr, `Asr, Maghrib etc.)

Practically, it would be simpler to intend that the specific (e.g. Dhuhr) makeup prayer is the most recent one you missed. This is easier to sustain than mentioning a specific number (e.g. 57th) which is likely to become very cumbersome if you have a large number of prayers to make up.

[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

See also: Is It Permissible to Make Up Prayers That Don’t Need to Be Made Up?

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

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