a prayer or forgets it, then hastens to perform it, let him pray it as he would at its prescribed time, for Allah, blessed and exalted is He, says: “Establish prayer for My remembrance.”’” The scholars therefore unanimously agree that whoever forgets a prayer or sleeps through it until its prescribed time has ended must pray it after that time.
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His words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “Let him pray it when he remembers it,” indicate that it is impermissible to delay it beyond the moment of remembering it. This was the position of Mālik, may Allah Most High have mercy on him. He said that if someone remembers a few missed prayers during the time of the prayer currently due, he must begin with those missed prayers, even if the time of the current prayer consequently expires. This is by analogy with someone who forgets the noon and afternoon prayers until shortly before sunset: he begins with the noon prayer even if the time for the afternoon prayer consequently expires. Al-Shāfi‘ī disagreed, holding that he should begin with the prayer currently due before the missed prayer. His evidence was the report that, on that occasion, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed the two rak‘ahs of the dawn sunnah before the obligatory dawn prayer. This is clear evidence, but Mālik, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, did not regard that report as authentic. In Ashhab’s transmission, Mālik was asked whether the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had prayed the two rak‘ahs of the dawn sunnah on the day of the incident in the valley. He replied: “I have not heard that.” As for his delaying the prayer until he had left the valley, this provides no evidence for the opposing view, since he explained the reason in the hadith, saying: “This is a valley in which there is a devil.”
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According to Mālik, observing the proper sequence between a few missed prayers and the prayer currently due is obligatory in the first instance, just as observing the sequence between prayers whose times are current is obligatory. One begins with the forgotten prayers even if the time of the current prayer consequently expires, just as someone who forgets the noon and afternoon prayers until sunset approaches begins with the noon prayer even if the time of the afternoon prayer consequently expires. Likewise, according to his position, missed prayers must be made up in their original sequence, the earliest first. If someone forgetfully fails to observe the sequence in any of these cases, he need not repeat the prayer he performed ahead of its proper place, except that repeating it within its prescribed time to restore the sequence is recommended. An example involving prayers whose times are current is someone who forgets the noon and afternoon prayers until shortly before sunset, with enough time remaining to perform only one prayer, then remembers only the afternoon prayer