The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Prayer is the cornerstone of religion…” Prayer stands as the second pillar of Islam after testifying that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His final Messenger. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Islam is built upon five pillars: testifying that there is no true god except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, performing prayer, paying the Zakah, making the pilgrimage to the Sacred House (Hajj), and fasting the month of Ramadan.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)
A Muslim should make his/her best effort to offer each prayer on time as prayers have certain times in which it should be performed. Almighty Allah says, “Worship at fixed hours hath been enjoined on the believers.” (An-Nisa’: 103) Also, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against ignoring offering prayers in their due times.
Ibn Qudamah in his Al-Mughni states that the majority of Muslim jurists are of the opinion that the missed prayers must be made up in order before the present prayer if the missed prayers are less than five, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did so when he missed some prayers during the Battle of the Trench (Al-Khandaq).
Imam ash-Shafi`i holds the opinion that offering the missed prayers in order is recommendable rather than obligatory.
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal maintains that performing the missed prayers in order is obligatory. He based his ruling on the narration that in the year of the Confederates, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the Maghrib prayer and when he finished he said, “Does anyone of you know whether I offered the `Asr prayer?” They (the Companions) said, “O Messenger of Allah! You did not perform it.” So, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the muezzin to pronounce iqamah (the call to commence prayer) and he offered the `Asr prayer and then performed Maghrib again.” Imam Ahamd says that this is evidence for the obligation to offer the missed prayers in order.
However, Imam Malik and Abu Hanifah are of the opinion that if the missed prayers are more than five, it is not obligatory to offer those missed prayers in order to avert any hardship resulting from this.
Ash-Shirazi, one of the Shafi`i jurists, is of the opinion that if one missed three prayers, it is mustahab (desirable) to offer them in order because the Prophet (peace and blessings be up
on him) did so when he missed four prayers during the Battle of the Trench.
It is clear in the light of the above, according to the opinion of the majority of Muslim jurists, that you are required to make up for the missed three prayers in order, following the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who said: “Perform prayer as you see me performing it.”
