who performed his prayer incorrectly:
“Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” He replied, “By Him who sent you with the truth, I do not know how to pray any differently. Teach me what will suffice for my prayer.” So the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught him.
He commanded him to repeat the prayer then due, but did not command him to repeat his earlier prayers, despite his saying, “I do not know how to pray any differently.”
Likewise, he did not command ‘Umar and ‘Ammār to make up their prayers: when ‘Umar entered a state of major ritual impurity, he did not pray, while ‘Ammār rolled on the ground as an animal does. Nor did he command Abū Dharr to make up the prayers he had omitted while in a state of major ritual impurity. He did not command the woman suffering from irregular bleeding to make up what she had missed, despite her saying, “I suffer such severe irregular bleeding that it has prevented me from fasting and praying.” Nor did he command those who ate during Ramadan until they could distinguish white cords from black ones to repeat their fasts.
When prayer was first prescribed, each prayer consisted of two units. Then, after the Prophet emigrated, the prayer of those not travelling was increased to four obligatory units. Many Muslims in Mecca, Abyssinia and the desert regions did not learn of this until some time later and continued to pray two units. Yet he did not command them to repeat the prayers they had performed. Likewise, he did not command those who had prayed towards the former direction of prayer to repeat the prayers they had offered facing it before learning of the ruling that superseded it.
It is thus clear that there is no difference between a command introducing a new obligation and one abrogating an earlier ruling. The obligation to perform the two additional units was newly instituted, whereas the obligation to face the Kaaba abrogated an earlier ruling. Likewise, the testimony of faith in prayer and other acts became obligatory only at a later stage, and many