In another version it states: he performed ablution, then prostrated twice; when the iqamah was given he offered the dawn prayer. We mentioned this a short while ago.
There is also the report of Dhi Mikhmar al-Habashi—one of the Companions present during this incident—which says: The Prophet ordered Bilal to give the adhan. The Prophet then rose and prayed the two rakʿahs before Fajr unhurriedly; he then told him to pronounce the iqamah and he led the prayer, likewise without haste. Someone asked, “Messenger of Allah, have we been negligent?” He replied:
“No. Allah merely withheld our souls, then returned them to us, and we have now prayed.”
It was recorded by Ahmad (4/90–91) and by Abu Dawud (73)—the latter without the words, “Someone asked him …” and so on—through the chain of Hariz ibn ʿUthman, who said: Yazid ibn Subh—some say Ibn Saliḥ—narrated to me, from him. This chain is sound.
Ibn Masʿud narrated: We were returning with the Messenger of Allah during the treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah. The Messenger of Allah said, “Who will keep watch for us?” Bilal replied, “I will.” They then slept until the sun rose. The Prophet awoke and said, “Do as you used to do.” So we did. He then said, “The same should be done by anyone who sleeps through a prayer or forgets it.”
Abu Dawud (73–74) and al-Tahawi (269–270) transmitted it through the route of Jamiʿ ibn Shaddad, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAlqama, from him. This chain is authentic.
- As for one who deliberately allows a prayer to pass beyond its appointed time, without intending a legitimate combination, he is not prescribed to make it up and he is never excused; the dispensation applies only to the person who slept through the prayer or forgot it.