Mastering the Basics: Prayer for the Sick and Making Up Missed Prayers in مختصر الأخضري
For centuries, students of Islamic jurisprudence (فقه) according to the Mālikī (مالكي) school have started their journey with a foundational text: مختصر الأخضري (The Abridgment of Al-Akhḍarī). Written by the scholar Abū Yazīd ʿAbdur Raḥmān bin Muḥammad al-Ṣaghīr bin Muḥammad bin ʿĀmir, this brilliant primer distills complex legal rulings into practical, everyday guidance.
One of the most compassionate yet rigorous chapters in this text deals with the rulings of prayer (صلاة) when a person is sick, alongside the rules for making up missed prayers. For every legally accountable individual (مكلف), learning these rulings is not just a recommendations—it is a personal obligation (واجب). Let’s dive into how this classic text unpacks these essential scenarios.
The 7 States of Prayer for the Sick
Islam prioritizes ease and capability, but it never compromises the connection with the Divine. When illness strikes, a person must still perform their obligatory prayer (صلاة) to the best of their physical ability. The text outlines seven distinct physical states for a sick person—four of which are obligatory (واجب) in order of priority, and three of which are preferable (مندوب).
The 4 Obligatory (واجب) Postures
A sick person must move down this list sequentially, only choosing the next option if they are completely unable to perform the preceding one.
Standing without support (القيام بدون استناد): If you can stand entirely on your own feet, you must do so.
Standing with support (القيام باستناد): If you can stand but require a cane, a wall, or a person to lean on, this becomes obligatory.
Sitting without support (الجلوس بدون استناد): If standing is impossible, you must pray sitting on the ground or a chair without leaning on anything.
Sitting with support (الجلوس باستناد): If sitting upright on your own is impossible, you must sit while leaning on a support.
The 3 Preferable (مندوب) Postures
If a person is completely unable to stand or sit, they transition to lying down. The text ranks these positions by preference:
| Preference Order | Posture | Arabic Term |
| First Preference | Lying on the right side, facing the direction of prayer | الاضطجاع على الشق الأيمن |
| Second Preference | Lying on the left side, facing the direction of prayer | الاضطجاع على الشق الأيسر |
| Third Preference | Lying on the back, with feet facing the direction of prayer | الاستلقاء على الظهر |
The Final Resort: If none of these seven states are physically possible, the absolute final state a person can resort to is praying while lying flat on their stomach (الاستلقاء على البطن).
The Fine Line of Leaning and Support (الاستناد)
The text provides a nuanced psychological and physical breakdown of relying on external support during the obligatory (واجب) parts of prayer.
If a person relies on a physical support so heavily that if it were suddenly removed, they would fall, this level of leaning is considered total dependency. If someone does this while they actually have the strength to stand or sit independently, their prayer becomes completely invalid (باطل).
On the flip side, if they lean on something but not to that extreme—meaning if it were removed, they would remain upright—doing so unnecessarily is considered disliked (مكروه). Under this ruling, if you avoid doing it you will be rewarded, but if you do it, you will not be punished.
Voluntary Prayers (نوافل) While Sitting
What about voluntary prayers (نوافل)? The rules relax significantly here. It is entirely permissible for a healthy person to pray voluntary prayers while sitting. However, there is a catch: they only receive half the reward of a person praying while standing.
Furthermore, it is legally permissible to begin a voluntary prayer (صلاة) while sitting down and then stand up later during the same unit of prayer.
(Note: Receiving a full spiritual reward for voluntary prayers while sitting, or freely transitioning between the two without a drop in reward, was a unique spiritual privilege exclusive to the Prophet ﷺ).
Unburdening the Soul: Making Up Missed Prayers (قضاء الفوائت)
Life happens. We sleep through alarms, we forget, or in darker moments, we might willfully neglect our duties. The author establishes that making up missed prayers is a firm, binding liability (ذمة) that rests upon a person's conscience until it is fulfilled.
It is strictly obligatory (واجب) to make up any missed prayer (صلاة), regardless of the circumstances—whether you missed it while traveling, at home, while asleep, or out of forgetfulness. While a tiny minority of historical scholars argued that intentionally missed prayers cannot be made up, the majority of scholars (including the Mālikī school) emphasize that intentionally missed prayers must be made up as well.
Avoid Lagging Behind
A person should not delay or lag behind in clearing their spiritual debt. You must prioritize your missed obligatory prayers over voluntary ones (نوافل) and regular confirmed traditions (سنة), with a few notable exceptions that you can still pray:
The two dawn sunnah units (رغيبة الفجر)
The night witr prayer (الوتر)
The two festive holiday prayers (العيدين)
What constitutes "lagging behind"? To ensure you are diligent, scholars offer a few benchmarks for how many missed prayers to make up daily. Some suggest that making up 20 prayers a day (equivalent to 5 days' worth of prayers) means you are safely keeping up. Others state that making up even 2 prayers a day, or 10 prayers over a span of 5 days, keeps you out of the negligent zone. The most well-known and widely accepted opinion is that consistently making up between 5 to 20 prayers a day ensures a person is actively clearing their liability.
Keeping the Original Format
When making up a prayer, you must replicate the exact state in which it was missed:
If you missed a prayer while at home, you make it up in full, even if you are currently traveling.
If you missed a prayer while traveling, you pray it in its shortened format, even if you are making it up at home.
Order, Timing, and Congregation
1. The Right Order
Sequential prayers that share an overlapping time block must be made up in their proper chronological order. You cannot pray the late afternoon prayer (العصر) before the noon prayer (الظهر), nor can you pray the night prayer (العشاء) before the sunset prayer (المغرب).
2. The Current vs. Missed Dilemma
If you remember a small number of missed prayers—4 or fewer—you must make them up before praying the current active prayer, even if you risk missing the time block for the current prayer. However, if you have a backlog of 5 or more missed prayers, you must pray the current active prayer first so that its time does not expire.
3. Anytime, Anywhere
Making up missed prayers is allowed at any hour of the day or night. This includes times when voluntary prayers are normally forbidden, such as during sunrise, sunset, or exactly when the sun reaches its zenith (زوال). Because clearing an obligatory debt is paramount, a person should completely skip voluntary actions like the mid-morning prayer (الضحى) or the nightly Ramadan prayers (التراويح) until their missed obligations are taken care of.
4. Joining a Congregation (جماعة)
You can make up prayers in a congregation (جماعة), provided that the prayer being performed is exactly the same. They do not even need to be from the same day! For example, if you missed the noon prayer (الظهر) on Saturday, you can legally stand in a congregation to make it up alongside people who are making up the noon prayer (الظهر) from Sunday.
Dealing with Uncertainty: Doubt vs. Illusion
If you have been away from practice for a long time, you might completely forget the exact number of prayers you missed. The rule here is beautiful in its clarity: You must pray the maximum possible number you suspect until all doubt is entirely removed from your mind.
In Islamic jurisprudence, degrees of certainty matter:
Certainty/Strong Probability (ظن): If you are 50% to 100% certain you missed a prayer, you must make it up to clear your liability (ذمة).
Baseless Doubt/Illusion (وهم): A tiny, whispering, or highly unlikely doubt is completely ignored. You do not build your legal rulings on fleeting thoughts.
Through these timeless rules, مختصر الأخضري balances absolute accountability to God with a deeply practical understanding of human frailty, sickness, and error. Keep your slate clean, pray within your means, and never underestimate the ease built into the sacred law.




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