Ada' (performance of an obligation within its time)

Ada' means, in the lexicon, delivery; the word is used both for acts with a set time, such as the obligatory prayer, and for acts without one, such as zakat or a trust. For the majority of jurists and usulis it is performing, within its time and before the time ends, an act that is obligatory or recommended; an act that has no time fixed by the law is not called ada' or qada'. ¹ For the Hanafis, ada' is handing over the very thing that was commanded; they do not require a time, so that zakat, trusts, vows and expiations count as ada'. ¹ Ada' is complete (mahd) when the act is whole, as the obligatory prayer in congregation, or deficient, as a lone prayer. It is not pure when it resembles qada', as when a late follower who joins the imam for the start of prayer completes it after the imam finishes: the act is ada' by its time and qada' by what he missed of the imam's prayer. ¹

Qada' is, in the lexicon, the same as ada'; the jurists use it in a separate technical sense, and the majority distinguish the two by the time, whereas the Hanafis distinguish them by the thing performed (ada') and its equivalent (qada'). ^{1 2} I'ada (repetition) is doing an act a second time within its time because of a defect in the first or an excuse; praying in congregation after praying alone is a repetition, since seeking the greater merit counts as an excuse. ²

Acts without a set time are not called ada' in the technical sense that contrasts with qada', except by the Hanafis, who call them ada' in law and custom. ²

Acts are of two kinds: unrestricted, with no time of two limits, as the whole of life is the time for them, such as zakat, expiations and voluntary acts; and timed, with a time the law has set, where performance before it is not due and delay past it is a sin when the act was obligatory, such as the five prayers and the fast of Ramadan. ³ A timed act's window is wide, when it leaves room for the act and others of its kind, as the time of noon prayer does, or narrow, when it fits only that act, as Ramadan does. The pilgrimage is hard to place, since its acts do not fill its time; some treat it as wide, and some as unrestricted, counting life as its time. ^{2 3}

Where the time is narrow, all of it is taken up by the act, and no one disputes that. The jurists differ on the intention: the Hanafis require only a general intention, since a narrow time is a measure that cannot be used for another act of its kind; the majority require a specific intention, and without it the act is not valid. ³

For a wide time, the majority hold that the obligation attaches to the whole time and not to some part of it, because the command requires performance in any part of it. Performance is due early when possible, though some hold it is recommended; delay to the end of the preferred time is allowed, since forbidding delay would burden people. ³ The Hanbalis and some Shafi'is allow delay only with the resolve to act; without that resolve one is sinful. ³ If a person thinks he will not live to the end of the time, the time narrows for him and delay is forbidden by his own judgement. If he delays and dies, he is sinful by agreement; if he lives and performs at the end, the act is qada' according to al-Baqillani and ada' according to the majority. ^{3 4} The Hanafi researchers hold that the time of performance is the part in which the act falls; the prayer is not due at its first moment by name but in an unnamed part of the time, and the time is fixed when one begins it. Some Iraqi Hanafis hold the obligation attaches to the end of the time, and some Shafi'is hold it attaches to the start, so that late performance is qada'. ⁴

The majority hold that a unit of prayer with its two prostrations within the time secures the whole prayer, citing the hadith on catching a unit of the dawn or afternoon prayer. Ashhab holds that bowing alone secures it. ⁴ The Hanafis and some Hanbalis hold that the opening takbir alone secures it. Some Hanafis and Shafi'is hold that one is performing what was done within the time and making good what was done after it. The Hanafis exempt the dawn prayer alone, which is not secured unless all of it is done before sunrise. ⁴

For acts with no time fixed by the law, such as zakat, expiations and unrestricted vows, the jurists differ on whether the command requires haste or allows delay. All agree that the duty becomes narrow at the end of life, when one thinks he can still perform it, and that whoever dies without performing it is sinful. ⁵ A recommended act brings reward for doing it and no blame for leaving it; the fixed ones include the sunna prayers before and after noon, the prayer after sunset, and the fast of Ashura; the unrestricted ones include night prayer. The Hanafis and Malikis require completing a begun voluntary act, and the Shafi'is and Hanbalis recommend it except for voluntary pilgrimage and visit, which must be completed by agreement. ^{5 6}

Performance requires capacity and ability. If someone was capable at the start of the time and an excuse preventing performance arises at its end, such as a woman whose menses begin at the end of the time, or a madman or one who faints, the majority require making good; the Hanafis and Malik do not, since the duty is fixed at the end of the time. If someone was not capable at the start and the excuse ends at the end of the time, the Hanafis have two views on whether the obligation binds, and the Malikis, Hanbalis and Shafi'is have views on how much time must remain. ^{6 7} Ability concerns the manner: an act must be done as the law describes it. One unable to stand prays sitting, and one unable to sit prays lying on his side, by agreement. One unable to fast because of old age or an incurable illness owes no fast, and the majority require a ransom for him, though they differ on its amount. Pilgrimage is due only from one able to pay for it and to travel, and a woman needs a mahram or a trustworthy company. ^{6 7} In financial worship, zakat is due on the property of a child and a madman according to the majority, paid by their guardian; the Hanafis do not impose it, since they are not of the people of worship. If a person's condition changes between the duty and the performance of an expiation, the Hanafis and Malikis count the time of performance; the Hanbalis and one view of the Shafi'is count the time of the duty. ^{7 8}

Acts for which the law makes the time the cause of obligation, such as prayer and fasting, may not be done early by agreement. Zakat may, for the majority, be paid early once the threshold is reached and before the year ends, on the analogy of a deferred debt; the Malikis allow only a short advance. Alms of breaking the fast may be paid early according to the Hanafis and Shafi'is. A ransom for an oath may be paid before breaking it according to the majority. ^{7 8}

Proxy is allowed in pure financial worship, such as zakat, alms and expiations, whether the obligor is able or not, since what is due is the handing over of property. Pure bodily worship, such as prayer and fasting, may not be done by proxy during life, by agreement, since no one fasts or prays for another in the sense of discharging the duty, though reward is not transferred in that sense. ⁸ After death, the Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is do not allow proxy in prayer, and the Hanbalis agree for the original obligation. For fasting, the Shafi'is have two views, the more apparent being that a guardian may fast for the dead who missed fasts and could have made them up, on the hadith in the two Sahihs that whoever dies owing a fast, his guardian fasts for him. The Hanbalis permit a vow to be done by proxy after death, and it is recommended for the guardian. ^{8 9}

The Malikis, in the prevailing view, do not allow proxy pilgrimage at all; the rest allow it for one who is permanently unable until death, such as the very old, the chronically disabled and the incurably ill, who must have someone make the pilgrimage for them if they have the means. If one who was permanently unable makes the pilgrimage himself after recovering, the Hanafis hold the proxy pilgrimage invalid and he must go again, while the Hanbalis hold it valid. ^{9 10} Votive and obligatory pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage are alike in this. A voluntary pilgrimage may be done by proxy by the Hanafis with or without an excuse, and by the Hanbalis with an excuse; the Malikis dislike proxy in voluntary pilgrimage. ¹⁰ One who dies before he is able to perform the pilgrimage has his obligation lapse, according to the Hanbalis and Shafi'is; one who dies after being able and not performing it owes it from his estate. The Hanafis and Malikis do not oblige a pilgrimage for the dead unless he bequeathed it. ¹⁰

Delaying an act of worship past the time of its obligation, without an excuse, is a sin. A timed act, such as prayer or fasting, must then be made up, and so must a specified vow not performed. For acts whose time is the whole of life, such as zakat and pilgrimage, once the conditions are met (the year has passed and the nisab is complete, with the means to pay, or the financial and bodily capacity for pilgrimage), the obligation stays as a debt on the person. ¹¹ The same holds for unrestricted obligations such as vows and expiations. On a person who dies without performing an obligatory financial duty that was possible for him, the Hanafis and Malikis hold that it is paid from his estate only if he bequeathed it, and otherwise lapses as far as the rulings of this world go; the Hanbalis and Shafi'is hold that it is paid from the estate even without a bequest. ¹¹

Voluntary acts, whether absolute or tied to a cause or time, differ on whether they are made up. The Hanafis and Malikis make up none of the regular sunnas except the dawn sunna. The Hanafis cite the report of Umm Salama about the two rak'as after noon that the delegation had kept the Prophet ﷺ from; asked whether they should be made up, he said no, which they take to show that making up is not obligatory for the community. ¹¹ They approve making up the dawn sunna together with the fard, following what the Prophet did on the night of the halt at the valley, and they treat the witr, which Abu Hanifa holds obligatory, as attached to the fard in practice. ^{11 12} The Hanbalis: Ahmad said he had not heard that the Prophet made up any voluntary prayer except the dawn two and the two after the afternoon. Al-Qadi and some companions allowed only the dawn and the noon pair; Ibn Hamid held that all the regular sunnas are made up, by analogy. The Shafi'is have two views: that the regular sunnas are not made up, and that they are, on the hadith that whoever sleeps through or forgets a prayer should pray it when he remembers. ¹² On the dawn sunna: the Hanafis make it up only when missed together with the dawn fard; the majority make it up whether missed alone or with the fard. The time limit differs: until midday for the Hanafis and Malikis, until forenoon for the Hanbalis, and without limit for the Shafi'is. ¹² An absolute voluntary act, once begun, must be completed according to the Hanafis and Malikis, and made up if spoiled. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis recommend completing it and making it up, without obligation, except for a voluntary pilgrimage or lesser pilgrimage, which must be completed once begun. ¹²

Obligatory acts, individual or communal, such as prayer, fasting, zakat, pilgrimage, struggle and the funeral prayer, are among the pillars of Islam known in religion by necessity; the Qur'an enjoins them in many passages, and a hadith states that Islam is built on five. Each responsible person must perform them in the form the law prescribes. ^{12 13} A person who refuses while denying the obligation is treated as an unbeliever and asked to repent; if he does not, he is killed as an unbeliever. One who refuses from laziness is disciplined and given ta'zir in bodily worship such as prayer and left until the time narrows; if he persists, he is killed as a hadd penalty and not as unbelief, according to the majority; the Hanafis hold he is kept in prison until he prays. In zakat, one who withholds it from stinginess has it taken from him by force, and he may be fought over it, as Abu Bakr did with those who withheld zakat. ¹³ One who neglects the pilgrimage out of laziness is not fought, whether the duty is immediate or deferred; he is urged to go and left to his own account before God, since its condition is ability and he may have a hidden excuse. ¹³ Recommended acts, called sunna or nafila, are rewarded when done and not blamed when left. Some sunnas are marks of the religion, such as the congregational prayer, the call to prayer, the iqama and the two festival prayers, and leaving them shows contempt for the law; if the people of a town agreed to abandon them, they would be fought, unlike other recommended acts, which are done individually. ¹³

Performing an act in the lawful way, with its pillars and conditions complete, entails its validity in the sense of discharging the duty, and this is agreed. If validity is taken to mean the dropping of the need for making up, the chosen view is that it entails this, against the Mu'tazili Abd al-Jabbar. A properly performed act is called valid (sahih); otherwise it is called defective (fasid) or void (batil), the Hanafis distinguishing the two. Validity is the wider term, since it applies to worship and to transactions, whereas validity in the sense of discharge applies only to worship. ¹³ Whether a discharged duty brings reward is disputed. One view holds that discharge does not entail reward, since God may discharge a duty without rewarding it in some cases, which is what acceptance means; the other holds that every valid obligatory act in the law is accepted and rewarded, on the basis of the abundance of reward and the texts promising the obedient. ¹³

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) treats ada' as a technical term of fiqh, from the lexical sense "payment" or "accomplishment". It designates the performance of a religious duty within the time the law prescribes, as opposed to qada', the belated performance of a duty when delay is allowed. A distinction is also drawn between a complete performance (al-ada' al-kamil) and an incomplete one (al-ada' al-naqis). In the reading of the Quran, ada' means the traditional pronunciation of the letters, synonymous with qira'a. ¹⁴