An Incident with Regards to Offering Missed Prayers
Hazrat Abu Hurairah (ra) reported that when the Messenger (sa) of Allah returned from the expedition of Khaybar, he walked all night and only stopped in order to sleep. The Holy Prophet (sa) told Bilal (ra) to keep note of the time for the prayer during the night. This meant that he should be mindful of the prayer time and wake him up for the Fajr prayer. Thereafter, Hazrat Bilal (ra) offered his nawafil [voluntary] prayers as much as Allah had decreed for him that night, while the Messenger (sa) of Allah and his companions slept. When the time for the Fajr prayer drew close, Bilal (ra) turned towards the direction from which the sun would rise and sat down. Since he was leaning against his camel, he was overcome by sleep. Neither Bilal (ra), nor anyone else from among the companions woke up, until sunrise. Allah’s Messenger (sa) was the first of them to wake up and in a tone of concern said, “O Bilal! O Bilal!” Bilal (ra) replied, “O Messenger (sa) of Allah! May my father and mother be sacrificed for you! I was overcome by the same state as you were,” i.e., he was also overcome by sleep.
The Holy Prophet (sa) then ordered for them to depart and travelled a short distance on their mounts. The Messenger (sa) of Allah then stopped them after a short distance and performed ablution, then gave orders to Bilal (ra) who recited the iqamah and the Holy Prophet (sa). and then led them all in the morning prayer after the sun had risen. When he finished the prayer, he said, “When anyone forgets to offer a prayer, he should pray [the missed prayer] as soon as he remembers it, for Allah the Almighty has said: ‘And observe Prayer for My remembrance.’”
(Sunan Ibn Majah, Kitab al-Salat, Bab man naama ‘an al-Salat wa nasiyaha, Hadith 697)