How to Make Up Missed Witr Prayer and Du’a Qunoot: A Complete Guide

Missed Witr Prayer and Du’a Qunoot: When to Make It Up and What to Do

Question: If the Witr prayer is missed, when should it be made up? And if one forgets to recite the Du’a Qunoot in Witr, does the prayer need to be repeated?

Answer:First, understand that the Witr prayer is not obligatory but a highly emphasized Sunnah. If it is missed occasionally, there is no harm, but one should not deliberately neglect it and should strive to perform it regularly. The Prophet (peace be upon him) advised Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) to perform this prayer throughout his life.

If you forget to recite the Du’a Qunoot while performing the Witr prayer, there is no harm, and you do not need to repeat the prayer. In fact, you can sometimes intentionally leave out the Du’a Qunoot and still perform the Witr prayer.

If you miss the Witr prayer at night, you can make it up during the day before the Dhuhr prayer. When making up the Witr prayer during the day, you should perform it in an even number of rak’ahs. For example, if you usually pray one rak’ah of Witr at night, you should pray two rak’ahs during the day. If you usually pray three rak’ahs of Witr at night, you should pray four rak’ahs during the day, divided into two sets of two rak’ahs each.

Sheikh Maqbool Ahmed Salafi (Hafizahullah)

Jeddah Dawah Center, Hayy Al-Salamah, Saudi Arabia)