Their analogy between prayer and Hajj is invalid. If someone deliberately omits any of the obligations of Hajj that can be compensated for by a sacrificial offering, his Hajj is not invalidated. Rather, he must make compensation, which remains an obligation upon him and is never waived. Prayer, however, is invalidated if he omits one of its obligations. If it is said that this omission is compensated for by prostration, this entails that the prostration remains an obligation upon him, just as compensation for Hajj remains obligatory upon him. As for waiving both the obligation and its substitute, this has no basis in Islamic law. An analogy with Hajj would therefore entail saying that these prostrations after the closing salutation remain an obligation upon him until he performs them. This position is not untenable, unlike their assertion that the obligation lapses in favour of a substitute.

However, there is no disagreement that compensation for Hajj—the sacrificial offering—may be performed independently. As for these prostrations, there is disagreement over whether they may be performed independently after a prolonged interval.

We have said that one must either perform them or repeat the prayer. Thus, the view that they may be performed even after a prolonged interval, like a forgotten prayer, is well-founded and strong. A somewhat weaker view is that even someone who deliberately omits them may perform them later, although he sins by delaying them. This is comparable to someone who deliberately delays a forgotten prayer after remembering it: he should perform it and seek Allah’s forgiveness for delaying it. The same applies to a prayer deliberately allowed to lapse, according to those who hold that it can be made up: he should perform it and seek Allah’s forgiveness for delaying it.

Likewise, he should perform the two prostrations wherever he remembers them and seek Allah’s forgiveness for the delay. This, too, is a well-founded position, since Islamic law sets no precise limit based on the length of the interval or other such considerations. Similarly, there is no evidence in Islamic law for distinguishing between the mosque and elsewhere. Likewise,