Types of Wujūb

The jamhūr are of the view that amr is divided into two types only when it is restricted by time, such as ṣalāh. In this case, amr can be divided into adāʾ and qaḍāʾ. On the other hand, the Aḥnāf are of the view that amr is divided into adāʾ and qaḍāʾ regardless of whether the command is restricted by time or not. Adāʾ is to safeguard the command, by carrying it out, whilst qaḍāʾ is to carry out the command by producing a likeness to it. For example, in the case of ṣalāh, if one performs it in its specified time then this will be adāʾ, whereas if one performs ṣalāh outside of its specified time, then this will be qaḍāʾ, as it is a likeness of the command, and not what was expected.

The usage of the words adāʾ and qaḍāʾ are interchangeable such that if one can use the word adāʾ with intention of qaḍāʾ, and likewise one can use the word qaḍāʾ with the intention of doing adāʾ. For example one may say نويت أن أقضي ظهر اليوم, i.e. I intend to do qaḍāʾ of Ẓuhr today, i.e. I intend to pray (do adāʾ) of Ẓuhr. Likewise, one may say نويت أن أؤدي ظهر الأمس meaning I intend to do adāʾ of yesterday's Ẓuhr, i.e. I intend to make up (do qaḍāʾ) for (the) Ẓuhr (which I missed) yesterday.

The usage of the word qaḍāʾ in the place of adāʾ is many such as the saying of Allah ﴿فَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَانتَشِرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ﴾¹.

Imām al-Bazdawī says that the word adāʾ is generally used to mean both adāʾ and qaḍāʾ. This is in contrast to qaḍāʾ which is only reserved for its meaning, i.e. it is not used to mean adāʾ.

An objection may arise: as the use of the word qaḍāʾ with the intention of adāʾ is permissible, why is it not allowed for the case where a person fasts in Shaʿbān thinking it to be Ramaḍān? For example, if one said I am doing qaḍāʾ (intending the meaning of adāʾ) of Ramaḍān, the fasting of Ramaḍān will not be done in this case. The Aḥnāf say that this is not due to the meaning of the sentence being rejected, nor the interchangeability of the words adāʾ and qaḍāʾ being rejected, rather it is because adāʾ of an action cannot occur before its sabab has come into effect. Therefore, as Ramaḍān has not started, its sabab has not been found, therefore one cannot do adāʾ of it.

In contrast, if a person fasts in Shawwāl thinking it to be Ramaḍān, then this is permissible, i.e. a person has a few qaḍāʾ of Ramaḍān which they need to make up from before, now they fast in Shawwāl thinking it to be Ramaḍān, i.e. they say I am doing adāʾ of Ramaḍān, then their qaḍāʾ will be done².

According to the Aḥnāf, qaḍāʾ is automatically made wājib when the sabab of the original amr for adāʾ is found, such that there is no need for a new evidence to indicate that qaḍāʾ has been made wājib. This is the view of some Shawāfiʿ and the famous view of Ḥanābilah. Qāḍī Abū Yaʿlā says Imām Aḥmad also indicates towards this view. On the other hand, most of the Shawāfiʿ, Abū Bakr al-Jaṣṣāṣ, Abū al-Yusr al-Bazdawī the brother of Fakhr al-Islām Imām al-Bazdawī, as well as the Aḥnāf from the Iraq region, all say that qaḍāʾ is not wājib by adāʾ becoming wājib, rather they rely on additional evidence to show that qaḍāʾ has been made wājib.

For example, the Aḥnāf will say that if a person missed their ṣalāh, and the time for ṣalāh has gone, then qaḍāʾ becomes wājib by default. They do not look for additional evidence to prove that qaḍāʾ has become wājib. On the other hand, others argue that qaḍāʾ is not made wājib by the āyah on its own, rather it has been made wājib due to the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ that مَنْ نَسِيَ صَلاَةً فَلْيُصَلِّهَا إِذَا ذَكَرَهَا, "He who forgets the prayer should say it when he remembers it"³. The Aḥnāf will say that this ḥadīth, and those similar to it⁴, come for warning to clarify that adāʾ of ṣalāh is still due and its obligation is not dropped due to having it missed.

This is similar to the case if one is ill or travelling and therefore misses the fasting of Ramaḍān. The Aḥnāf hold that the āyah of the Qurʾān indicates wujūb for adāʾ and qaḍāʾ in itself; on the other hand, the Shawāfiʿ and others hold that qaḍāʾ would not have been made if the following part of the āyah had not been revealed ﴿وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ﴾⁵. They say that this part of the āyah makes qaḍāʾ wājib, and not the original command.

In both cases above, the outcome is the same, in that if a person misses their prayer or fast, then they must make it up. The only difference is the reason why they need to make it up. However, there are instances where this little technicality can have differing effects on the outcome of a fiqhī ruling.

For example: a person made an oath that they will fast on a certain day; now during the keeping of this fast, they fell ill or became unconscious such that they were unable to keep the fast. In this case the Aḥnāf will say the person will need to do qaḍāʾ of the fast, whilst the Shawāfiʿ will say that they do not need to do qaḍāʾ. As the Aḥnāf are of the opinion that qaḍāʾ becomes wājib by default⁶, they will say that as soon as the person began their fast it became wājib on them to complete it; therefore as they could not complete it, they must do qaḍāʾ of it on another day. On the other hand, as the Shawāfiʿ hold that qaḍāʾ does not become wājib by default, they will say that the person does not need to do qaḍāʾ of their fast as qaḍāʾ only becomes wājib due to an additional evidence which is not found in this case.

There are other examples where the difference is apparent between both madhāhib. For example, the Aḥnāf hold that the qaḍāʾ of a ḥaḍar ṣalāh should be four rakʿats in safar, and likewise the qaḍāʾ of a safar ṣalāh in ḥaḍar should be two rakʿats. This differs from the view of the Shawāfiʿ⁷ and Ḥanābilah who say that for qaḍāʾ of a safar ṣalāh, then if in ḥaḍar four should be read. Ibn Ḥazm holds a third view, that if one is doing their qaḍāʾ in safar they should pray two rakʿats, whilst if they are doing so in ḥaḍar they should pray four.

Likewise, it is also the view of the Aḥnāf that qaḍāʾ of a jahrī⁸ ṣalāh in the day should be done loudly, and qaḍāʾ of a sirrī⁹ ṣalāh at night should be done quietly. This is even though it is not the norm for jahrī ṣalāh to be prayed during the day nor for sirrī ṣalāh to be prayed at night.

An objection may arise, which seems as though the Aḥnāf do not hold onto their principle that that which makes adāʾ wājib is the same for qaḍāʾ. Consider this example: the time for ṣalāh enters and a person is sick, therefore it is wājib upon them to perform ṣalāh as a marīḍ. Now when the time expires, they need to do qaḍāʾ. It seems as though doing qaḍāʾ like a marīḍ should be sufficient even for a healthy person; however the Aḥnāf hold that they should pray their ṣalāh normally.

Those who object will say as adāʾ would have been complete if they performed their ṣalāh as a marīḍ, then even when healthy their qaḍāʾ should be complete if they perform it as a marīḍ. Whereas the Aḥnāf point of view¹⁰ indicates that the sabab which made adāʾ wājib is not the same which is making qaḍāʾ wājib¹¹. The Aḥnāf answer that when the amr came, it was wājib to complete the full ṣalāh as a marīḍ with dispensation given for those who were sick. Therefore, when the time expires and qaḍāʾ is due, ṣalāh should be completed in full, again with the dispensation that if one is ill, they may perform their ṣalāh as a marīḍ.

This is a well-known question posed by the Shawāfiʿ: if a person makes an oath to do iʿtikāf in Ramaḍān, and he fasts but does not do his iʿtikāf due to illness, the Aḥnāf hold that they do not need to do qaḍāʾ of the iʿtikāf in another Ramaḍān. Rather they say that the person will need to do another iʿtikāf as soon as possible, however they must also fast. The objection which arises is why must another fast be kept even though it has been done the first time round. It seems as though there is a qaḍāʾ of an adāʾ which was completed. Why not just do qaḍāʾ of an iʿtikāf?

The Aḥnāf reply that in this case as the condition of wājib iʿtikāf is Ramaḍān¹³, to do iʿtikāf without fasting in Ramaḍān will not be valid. Therefore, when one is unable to complete their iʿtikāf due to illness, as they have completed their fasting, qaḍāʾ of fasting will be done. However as fasting is a condition of wājib iʿtikāf, when they made their oath for iʿtikāf it is as if they made an oath for fasting as well, therefore it becomes necessary to complete a nafl fast with the qaḍāʾ of iʿtikāf.

This is similar to the example when one makes an oath to pray two rakʿat ṣalāh. Now they must ensure they have wuḍūʾ when carrying out their two rakʿat of ṣalāh, as wuḍūʾ is a necessary prerequisite of ṣalāh. If they performed their ṣalāh without wuḍūʾ it would not be accepted from them, and their oath will remain unfulfilled.

Another objection which arises is that if the Aḥnāf are of the opinion that qaḍāʾ becomes wājib with the sabab of adāʾ, which is the āyah ﴿وَلْيُوفُوا نُذُورَهُمْ﴾¹⁴, then it should be wājib to do qaḍāʾ in a different Ramaḍān, as is the view of Zufar. If not, then the obligation of qaḍāʾ should be dropped in this case, as is the view of Abū Yūsuf¹⁵. The Aḥnāf reply that the period from one Ramaḍān to another Ramaḍān is a very long period, and a person is not guaranteed to reach the next Ramaḍān and complete their qaḍāʾ, therefore they should make qaḍāʾ as soon as possible.

Footnotes

1. Qurʾān 62:10 ↩

2. This is as long as it is not the day of Eid; fasting is not permissible nor accepted on this day. ↩

3. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 684 a ↩

4. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 684 b, 684 c, 684 d ↩

5. Qurʾān 2:185 ↩

6. I.e. as soon as the sabab of the amr is found. ↩

7. Shāfiʿīs (later school). ↩

8. Like Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ. ↩

9. Like Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr. ↩

10. That they should pray their ṣalāh normally. ↩

11. Similarly, if a sick person is doing qaḍāʾ for ṣalāh missed when healthy, they may lighten the prayer as is normally permitted according to the Aḥnāf. ↩

12. ʿAllāmah al-Nasafī mentions fasting (and not iʿtikāf), as if the person did not fast due to illness, then in this case it is permissible to do qaḍāʾ of iʿtikāf in the coming Ramaḍān. ↩

13. There is some ikhtilāf on whether fasting is a condition of iʿtikāf; cf. Qamar al-Aqmar. ↩

14. Qurʾān 22:29 ↩

15. cf. Qamar al-Aqmar. ↩