What is the manner of making up the missed Friday prayer? I was unable to perform the Friday prayer in congregation at the mosque due to illness. Should I perform two rak‘ahs with the intention of Friday prayer, or four rak‘ahs with the intention of Dhuhr?

Whoever misses the Friday prayer due to a valid excuse, without negligence or carelessness, incurs no sin according to Islamic law. The majority of jurists have determined that the Friday Prayer is obligatory upon every free, adult, sane, non-traveling, and healthy Muslim; accordingly, it is not obligatory upon children, women, the ill, or travelers. It is not permissible to neglect or miss it except for a valid excuse, and whoever fails to attend it without a valid reason is blameworthy.

If the Friday prayer is missed due to a valid excuse — such as sleep, an illness, or similar reasons — or even without an excuse, it must be made up according to the consensus of scholars. The luminary Ibn Buzayzah stated in Rawḍat Al-Mustabin (1/374), “There is unanimous agreement on the obligation to make up missed prayers, whether they were missed due to forgetfulness or sleep.” This is supported by the hadith narrated by Anas Ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever forgets a prayer or sleeps and misses it, its expiation is to pray it when he remembers it” (Ṣahiḥ Muslim).

Manner of making up the missed Friday prayer

The missed Friday prayer is prayed as four rak‘ahs of Dhuhr according to scholarly consensus. Imam Ibn al-Mundhir said in Al-Awsaṭ fi Al-Sunan wal Ijma’ wal Ikhtilaf (4:107), “We gather from those scholars whose knowledge we have preserved that whoever misses the Friday prayer should pray four rak‘ahs [in its stead].”

Ibn al-Mulaqqin noted in ‘Ujalat Al-Muḥtaj ila Tawjih Al-Minhaj (1:359), “If one misses the Friday prayer, it is not made up as a Friday prayer, but as Dhuhr according to scholarly consensus.” Similarly, Imam Ibn Qudamah stated in Al-Mughni (2:254), “If one misses the Friday prayer, he should perform the Dhuhr prayer instead, because the Friday prayer cannot be made up — it is only valid under its specific conditions, which no longer exist once its time has passed. Therefore, Dhuhr is the substitute when the Friday prayer is missed.”

The ruling

Based on the above, whoever misses the Friday prayer due to a valid excuse, without negligence or carelessness, is not blameworthy. However, he must make it up by performing four rak’as of Dhuhr according to the unanimous view of scholars.

 And Allah the Almighty knows best.