A man has both an obligatory prayer and a regular voluntary prayer due, and he enters the mosque after the congregation has finished; which one does he start with?

The questioner : He saysThe questioner : A man has both an obligatory prayer and a pre-prayer voluntary prayer due, and he enters the mosque after the congregational prayer has been performed; which one does he start with?

The Shaykh : He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and this hadith, in its generality and comprehensiveness, covers every obligatory prayer, whether it is the Fajr prayer, the Maghrib prayer, or the rest of the five daily prayers. Therefore, it is not permissible for one who enters the mosque after the iqamah has been called to begin the voluntary prayer; rather, he must join the congregation. After that, it is prescribed for him to perform the voluntary prayer that he missed beforehand. Specifically regarding the Fajr prayer, he may perform the voluntary prayer immediately after the obligatory prayer, or he may perform it after the sun has risen and the time of dislike has passed. There is a hadith for each of these two scenarios, and therefore the Muslim is given the choice between these two options.

The questioner : I understood from the question that he entered after the obligatory prayer, and he has both an obligatory prayer and a voluntary prayer due.

The Shaykh : Do you mean he did not catch the obligatory prayer?

The questioner : Yes, he did not catch the obligatory prayer.

The Shaykh : ... He starts as prescribed by the Shari'ah: he starts with the voluntary prayer, then follows it with the obligatory prayer. As for me, I thought he had caught some of the prayer, so the answer is what you heard. However, if the question is that he entered the mosque and did not catch any part of the prayer behind the imam, then he prays the voluntary prayer, then prays the obligatory prayer. But I find this type of question strange; what is the motivation or reason for it?

The questioner : Some people say he starts with the obligatory prayer, then makes up the voluntary prayer or does not make it up?

The Shaykh : What is the motivation for this? Is the precise intent of the question this? And in that case, we ask: what is the motivation? Is there such a statement?

Another questioner : Some of them ... .

The Shaykh : The answer is what you heard, until I say something. Perhaps the motivation for that is thatThe questioner : he missed a condition in the question. Perhaps the original question, which is the important part of the answer, is that a man woke up for the Fajr prayer, and the sun was about to rise, such that he strongly suspected that if he started the voluntary prayer, the sun would rise. Perhaps this is the motivation for the question. And if we assume that a man entered as they are praying Fajr, and the imam finished the prayer and there is a long time ahead of him, what is the motivation for such a question: does he start with the voluntary prayer or the obligatory prayer?
In my opinion—and Allah knows best—The questioner : I mean, if the time catches up with him and the sun is about to rise; in this case, does he start with the voluntary prayer or the obligatory prayer? This is actually an important question, and the answer to it is even more important. This is unlike the case where there is ample time, in which case the answer is what you heard: he starts as Allah has prescribed, praying the voluntary prayer then the obligatory prayer. But in the tight time where it is likely that if he engages in the two rak'ahs of the voluntary prayer, he will miss the two rak'ahs of the obligatory prayer—meaning the sun rises on him and he has not yet prayed the obligatory prayer—what is the answer?
We say there are two cases where the ruling differs between one and the other. If the man’s time became tight due to his own negligence, and he woke up early, and he could have prayed the voluntary and obligatory prayers as prescribed, but he was distracted by his wealth, his child, his laziness, or whatever the distraction was, until the sun was about to rise; in that case, it is not permissible for him to start the voluntary prayer. Rather, he must make up for the obligatory prayer and pray it. If he catches one rak'ah before the sun rises, he has caught it, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the agreed-upon hadith. As for the other case—pardon me—in this situation, he is not allowed to pray the voluntary prayer after the sun has risen, because he intentionally and deliberately took it out of its time. But in the other case, where he did not wake up until the sun was about to rise, in this case he prays the voluntary prayer then the obligatory prayer, because the Wise Lawgiver has given him a specific time for this, as in his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . This means that this person who wakes up or remembers, if he remembers the Fajr prayer, for example, or the 'Asr prayer, and the sun is about to rise or set, the Wise Lawgiver has given him a time that is sufficient to perform what he missed or is about to miss of the prayer. So he starts by praying the voluntary prayer, and it does not matter if the sun rises on him while he is praying it or not, then he follows it with the obligatory prayer. It does not harm him if the sun rises while he is at the beginning or the end of it, because this time in which he performed the voluntary and obligatory prayers is a specific time for him, as evidenced by the previous hadith: , meaning: the time he remembers it. If he does not do that, the prayer is lost for him entirely, both the voluntary and the obligatory, due to his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying at the end of the hadith: .
This hadith is one of the evidences of Ibn al-Qayyim and the scholars who followed his path, who say that whoever intentionally takes a prayer out of its time cannot make it up for the rest of his life. Because if it were permissible for anyone to make up a prayer they intentionally left, it would be more fitting for this man who slept through the prayer or forgot it to make it up. As long as the prayer has gone out of its time, he prays it whenever he wishes. But we see that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) only gave this person, who is excused by sleep or forgetfulness, a very limited time that does not allow for more than the prayer that he missed or is about to miss. That is his (peace be upon him) saying: .

The questioner : And does that mean Ibn al-Qayyim’s opinion is not accepted?

The Shaykh : No, it is accepted. It is the accepted one.

The questioner : It is the accepted one?

The Shaykh : It is the accepted one, because Ibn al-Qayyim says: "Whoever intentionally takes the prayer out of its time has no expiation for it." And this hadith says exactly that. Because this sleeping person and the forgetful person are excused, and the pen is lifted from them by authentic hadiths on this topic. Despite that, a new time was set for this excuse, and on top of that, the time was restricted for him, and he was told: if he does not do it, he has no expiation. So he is commanded to pray what he missed due to sleep or forgetfulness at the time of remembering and waking up. If he does not do that, the prayer is lost for him as well. So it is even more so that the extended time—for example, the man’s time between the true dawn and the rising of the sun is one hour, one hour and a quarter, or one hour and a half.

The questioner : And therefore he is subject to ta'zir? The one who left it intentionally.

The Shaykh : He is subject to ta'zir; this returns to the ruler. If he sees fit to do so, he does; otherwise, he does not.

Another questioner : There are those whom sleep overtakes, and they do not wake up until the end of the time, the end of the time. So when the prayer comes, they wake up... they catch the time. And if they engage in wudu, they might miss the time; what is the ruling in that?

The Shaykh : The ruling is what you heard. This is an excused man, so he performs the prayer as prescribed for him. This is unlike the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), who permits him to perform tayammum.