Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu, Shaykh. I sit and pray even for the obligatory prayer due to pain in my feet, but I bow while standing and start praying while standing as it is a short period of standing. I know that standing is an essential pillar of the prayer, but I am confused on whether I must stand after the first Tashahhud and then sit and pray that unit of prayer or if I can just say the Takbeer (saying ‘Allaahu Akbar’) and start the third unit of prayer as I am praying while sitting. Please advise if I must stand and then sit and recite. And what about what has past; must I repeat all those prayers (60+ days)? I ignore whether for a person who sits and prays the obligatory prayer it is an essential pillar or an obligatory one to stand after the first tashahud or not. Please advise. I am asked to repeat some prayers in a fatwa, due to bowing while sitting; they were two or three prayers only, but I ignore which prayers they were and on which date; is it sufficient if i pray all the prayers of three days (15) and without keeping a date in mind as I do not know at all which date they were? May Allaah reward you, Shaykh.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, the inability that renders performing an obligatory prayer while sitting down permissible is when the praying person is unable to stand or that he finds an unbearable hardship in that or fears that by standing, his illness would increase or recovery would be delayed.

In his book Al-Mughni, Ibn Qudaamah said, “The scholars unanimously agreed that if a person cannot stand, he may pray while sitting down … If he can pray standing but fears that standing would make his illness worse or that his recovery from it will be delayed, or if he finds unbearable difficulty, then he may pray while sitting down. This is also the view of Maalik and Is-haaq.” [Abridged]

If a person is permitted to pray while sitting down in obligatory prayers, then he is not obliged to stand up at the beginning of the third unit of prayer in particular; rather, he may pray sitting down.

The fatwa of the Standing Committee of Ifta’ reads, “If you are unable to complete your prayer while standing up or you find a great hardship if you complete it while standing up, then there is nothing wrong in completing your prayer while sitting and your prayer is valid.”

The scholars did not mention that it is obligatory on the praying person to stand up at the beginning of the third unit of prayer (after the first Tashahhud), and there is no doubt that there is hardship in doing so since it is permissible for him from the beginning to pray while sitting down due to his inability [to stand] or because of facing an unbearable hardship, so he is not required to stand for the third unit of prayer. The scholars stated that a person is obliged to stand if he is able during the whole prayer in general, and not particularly at the third unit of prayer. Standing in prayer is one of the pillars of the prayer, and one is required to fulfill whatever he is able to do of it in the prayer, and if he is unable to stand, then he is excused for not standing.

Bahr Al-Math-hab by Ar-Rooyaani, from the Shafi’i School of jurisprudence, reads, “If he prays sitting down and is able to stand where one is required to stand in prayer, then he is obliged to stand, then if he is able to stand before the recitation, then he stands and performs the bowing from standing, and if he is only able to stand after the recitation, then he stands after the recitation and then he performs the bowing from the standing position.”

The commentary of Al-Bujayrimi reads about the one who recites Al-Faatihah while sitting down and becomes able to stand, “If he is able to stand up after reciting Al-Faatihah, then he should perform the bowing from the standing position, otherwise, he performs the bowing while he is sitting down.”

The commentary of Al-‘Abbaadi on Al-Ghurar Al-Bahiyyah fee Sharh Al-Bahjah Al-Wardiyyah reads, “Is he obliged after finishing the recitation of Al-Faatihah while sitting down to stand up in order to perform the bowing from the standing position, because performing the bowing from the standing position is obligatory on the person who is able to stand? The answer is that the dominant opinion is that he is obliged to do so [to stand in order to perform the bowing].”

As regards standing for the third unit of prayer in particular, then this is not an obligation and we do not know of any scholar who said so, and we hope that your prayers are valid and that you are not required to make up for them.

You should know that a person who is obliged to make up for the prayers for three days and who does not know exactly which prayers they are, whether it is one particular prayer in all these days [such as the Thuhr] or they are different prayers, such as the Thuhr, ‘Asr, and Maghrib, then, in this case, he makes up for [all] the prayers for three days.

Kash-shaaf Al-Qinaa', which is one of the books of the Hanbali School, reads, “If one forgets a prayer in one day and one night and he does not know exactly which prayer it is, the Thuhr or another prayer, then he prays five prayers with the intention of the obligatory prayer, which means that he intends by each one of the five prayers that he is making up for the obligatory prayer which he is obliged to perform.” 

Ash-Sharh Al-Kabeer, quoting Mukhtasar Khaleel reads, “If one does not know which prayer he had missed, meaning which he had not performed, even if intentionally, and he does not know at all whether it is a prayer of the daytime or a prayer of the night time, then he prays five prayers; he starts with the Thuhr prayer and ends with the Fajr prayer. But if he knows that it is a prayer of the day time, then he prays three prayers (the Fajr, Thuhr, and 'Asr), and if he knows that it is a prayer of the night time, then he prays the Maghrib and ‘Isha.”

Besides, Al-Kharashi from the Maaliki School said, “Because it is possible that each of the five daily prayers is the one that is forgotten or abandoned, so the number of the prayers one doubts about is five, so he must fulfill this number (make up for the five prayers), and he makes a definite intention for each one that it is the prayer he missed.”

Allah knows best.