As for the refusal to accept a make-up prayer from the one who willfully lets the time elapse, this is not because his case is lighter than that of those with an excuse—for the excused bear no blame at all. Rather, the make-up is rejected as a punishment and a stern warning to him.

Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah have mercy on him—has discussed the matter at length; whoever wishes to examine it in detail should consult his work.

With regard to Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, he states in Al-Ikhtiyārāt: “The person who abandons a prayer deliberately is not legislated to make it up, nor will it be valid from him. Instead, he should engage in numerous supererogatory prayers. This is the position of a group of the early scholars, such as Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the companion of al-Shāfiʿī, as well as Dāwūd and his followers. None of the textual proofs contradict this view; on the contrary, they support it.”

Shaykh Ṣiddīq Ḥasan inclined toward this opinion in his book Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah.

This, then, is the summary I wished to present on the issue. Allah knows best what is correct.

Legal rulings derived from the ḥadīth

1. It is obligatory for the forgetful person and the sleeper to make up the prayer as soon as they remember or awaken.
2. One must hasten to perform it immediately; delaying it after remembering constitutes negligence.
3. There is no sin upon the one who delays the prayer due to an excuse such as forgetfulness or sleep, provided he was not himself negligent—by, for example, going to sleep after the time had begun, or knowing he will not wake up in time yet failing to set a means to rouse him.

The “expiation” mentioned is not for a sin that has been committed; its meaning is that nothing else—such as feeding the poor or freeing a slave—can substitute for the missed prayer. The prayer itself must be performed.