Vowed to perform two Rak‘ahs if he missed an obligatory prayer in the mosque

12-8-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

What is the ruling on making a vow to perform all obligatory prayers in the mosque and that for every obligatory prayer that is missed in the mosque, the vow-taker will pray two Rak‘ahs (units of prayer)? Is such a vow acceptable?

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Performing obligatory prayer in the mosque is a religious obligation (on Muslim men), and failing to observe it without a Sharee'ah-approved excuse is forbidden. Muslim scholars held different opinions in this regard. Hence, if someone takes a vow to perform the obligatory prayers in the mosque, then he is obliged to deliver on his vow. ‘Aa’ishah  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  her reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Whoever vowed to obey Allaah, the Exalted, must obey  Him; and whoever vowed to disobey Allaah, the Exalted, must not disobey Him." [Al-Bukhari]

However, if the vow-taker said, "I vow to perform two Rak‘ahs for every obligatory prayer that I fail to perform in the mosque," in order to urge himself not to miss the prayer in the mosque, then such a vow is known as a vow of lajaj (i.e. anger). It is enough for the vow-taker, in that case, to offer an expiation like that of breaking an oath. The determining factor in considering a vow to be that of lajaj is the person's intention to urge himself to do something or abstain from doing something by rendering the performance of a righteous act that brings him closer to Allaah conditional on the performance or nonperformance of a certain act. There is no harm if the person fulfills such a vow, but he is not obliged to do so; it is enough for him to offer an expiation like that of breaking an oath.

Allaah Knows best.

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