The Hadith on Making Up a Lifetime of Prayers

Question

Is it correct to perform the making-up of a lifetime’s prayers with the belief that by performing it all the prayers missed over an entire year are forgiven? This make-up is performed in this manner: two rak’ahs of supererogatory (nafl) prayer in congregation. Is this prayer established in Islamic law? In which book of fiqh is it recorded, and is it found in any book of hadith or not?

Answer

This prayer is not established by the Sacred Law. Performing supererogatory (nafl) prayers in congregation is disliked (makruh). To perform two rak’ahs in this manner while holding the belief that it absolves the prayers missed over one’s whole life is entirely contrary to the principles of the Sacred Law: for a missed obligatory (fard) prayer, its make-up (qada’)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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