Forgotten the First Tashahhud in the Solat

A person joined the solat late and forgot the first tashahhud

I caught up with the last rak'ah of ‘Asar prayer, and I stood up to offer the second rak’ah, and I did not sit for the tashahhud. I thought that I had caught up with the third rak’ah in congregation, then when I sat for the second tashahhud I realized, and I did the prostration of forgetfulness, then I said the Salam. Is my prayer valid?

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
All the praise and thanks is due to Allah, Subhanahu wata`ala. Peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

There are two issues related to this inquiry.

1. Should the one who joined the solah late and do sujud al-sahwi if he forgets something in his prayer?

Al-Bahuti (rahimahullah) said:

“He (i.e., the one who joined the prayer late) should also do the sujud al-sahwi in the following situations:

• He should sujud al-sahwi with regard to the mistaken part of the solah that he did with his imam, even if he left the imam after that or a reason.

• The one who joined the prayer late should also do the sujud al-sahwi if he forgets to do any the part of the solah that he offers alone, which is what he makes up after the imam has said the salam, even if he prostrated with him because of his (the imam’s) mistake, because now he is praying alone.”

[Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat (1/232)]

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (rahimahullah) said:

“As for the one, who joined the solah late, he should do the sujud al-sahwi and either he did a mistake with his imam, or if he made a mistake in the part of the solah that he offers alone after the imam has completed it”

[Fatawa Ibn Baaz, 11/268]

“If a person forgets the obligatory part of solah whilst making up the part of the solah that he missed, or he is not sure about his solah, then he should act on the basis of what is certain – which is the lower number – and complete his prayer, then do the sujud al-sahwi”

[Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Da’imah (7/151)]

2. When should the sujud al-sahwi be done, before the Salam or after it?

The Sunnah is that if a person forgets the first tashahhud, he should do the prostration of forgetfulness before the taslim.

It was narrated that ‘Abdallah Ibn Buhaynah (radiallahu `anhu) said:

“The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) led us in praying two rak'ahs of prayer, then he stood up and did not sit, and the people stood up with him. When he had finished praying and we were waiting for his taslim, he said takbir and prostrated twice whilst he was sitting, before the taslim, then he said the taslim”

[Al-Bukhari (1224) and Muslim (570)]

This hadith indicates that the prayer of one who forgets the first tashahhud is valid, and that he should do the prostration of forgetfulness before saying the taslim at the end of the prayer.

It should be noted that the Hanbalis and Hanafis views the First Tashahhud is an obligatory (Wajib) part of the Solat. Whilst the Shafi’ies it is a Sunnah Ab'adh (almost equivalent to wajib. If one missed the wajib (or Sunnah Ab’adh part of solah he is has to make the prostrations of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahwi). But they considered The Final Tashahhud is a Pillar of the Solat.

Shaikh ibn ‘Uthaymeen (rahimahullah) who said:

“Thus, it becomes clear that this should be done before the Salam if you have omitted one of the obligatory parts of the prayer or if you are not sure how many rak’ahs you have done, and neither of the two choices seems more likely to be the case. And it should be done after the Salam if you have added something extra to the solah or you are not certain but one of the two choices seems more likely to be the case”

[See Majmu’ Fatawa al-Shaykh, 14/14-16]

Based on this, you did well when you did the prostration of forgetfulness before the Salam, and your prayer is valid, insya Allah.

And Allah Almighty knows best.

[Excerpted with minor modification from Fatwa No: 35909, Islam QA]

Forgotten to sit for Tashahhud

If one forgets the first tashahhud

What should one do if one forgets the first tashahhud (sitting after the second rak’ah?

If one forgets the first tashahhud, stands up for the third rak‘at and recites Al-Fatihah, then according to the majority of scholars, he should not return back to the sitting position. If he does return knowing that his return is not permissible, his prayer will be nullified because he has already started another obligatory act.

The first tashahhud is obligatory part of Solāt [Hanbalis and Hanafis: Obligatory (Wajib); whilst Shafi'es : Sunnah Ab'adh (almost equivalent to wajib). Due to his missing (forgotten) the wajib (or sunnah ab'adh) part of solāt he is has to make the prostrations of forgetfulness (Sujud al-Sahwi).

The evidence is the hadith narrated by Al-Mughirah bin Shu‘bah that the Prophet (sallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

If the Imām [mistakenly] stands up after the second rak‘ah, and realized that he has to sit, [just] before he straightens himself (upright), then he should sit down; and if he straightened upright, he should not sit and [to] make two prostrations of forgetfulness.

[Abu Dawud, No. 1036; Silsilah Al-Sahihah, 321]

In short, if someone stands up for the third rak‘at, forgetting the tashahhud, he is in one of the three situations:

• He remembers it before standing up straight: then he should return to tashahhud.
• He remembers after standing up straight, and before starting the recitation of Al-Fātihah: then it is better for him not to sit, but if he sits his prayer will be correct.
• He remembers it after starting the recitation of Al-Fātihah: then he is not allowed to return to tashahhud. [He is has to make the prostrations of forgetfulness at the end of the Solāt].

These three cases have been deduced from the above Hadith.

[Al-Mughni 1/677; ‘What Should You Do in the Following Situations?’]

[Excerpted with minor modification from Fatwa No: 50 Islam QA]

Mistake or Uncertain of Number of Rak’ahs

Mistake or uncertain of the number of Rak'ahs

Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

I make mistakes many times during my prayers. Either I forget how many 'rakaat' I have done or something else of the sort. How would I go about correcting it? Do I stop my prayers and do it over, or continue?

 In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful;
All the Praise is to Allah Subhanahu wa ta`ala. Peace and Blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad His Messenger

Perform Sujud Al-Sahwi if one in Doubt in Solat

The prostration of forgetfulness (Sujud al-Sahwi) is required whenever one inadvertently adds extraneous parts or misses parts or is in doubt regarding parts of the arkan (essential pillars) of the prayer and or its other requirements.

The question posed is what to do when in doubt regarding the number of raka’at prayed, and the answer is covered in the following points:

First, definition of doubtfulness: when two possibilities are equally probable without knowing or feeling one is more likely true than the other.

Second, when one doubts after performing Salam: One should disregard such doubt. For example, take the case of one who has completed praying dzuhur then questions after finishing the prayer, "Did I really pray four raka’ats or only three?" Such doubt should be disregarded completely unless it is substantiated by clear and certain indications; otherwise, it opens the door to waswasah (the whispering of Satan) and unwarranted extraneous additions to the prayer.

Third, when one doubts during Solah; this must fall into one of the following two cases:

1. One can discern that one of the two possibilities about which one is in doubt is more likely or more certain by virtue of one’s prevalent feeling or most likely inclination: In this case, one should act according to his best assumption and perform the prostration of forgetfulness after the Salam.

The evidence for this opinion is based on a hadith related by Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud, (radialahu`anhu) who said, The Prophet s.a.w performed solat either an extraneous addition or missed an essential part of the prayer (one of the narrators of the hadith was in doubt which). After saying ‘salam,’ it was said to him (s.a.w):

"Oh Prophet, Has there been a new change in [the way of performing] the Solah?"

He s.a.w replied, "Why [would you say that]?"

They responded, "You prayed in such and such manner."

So he bent his legs and faced towards the qiblah and performed two prostrations then performed taslim (saying ‘salam’ to the right then the left).

After facing towards us, the Prophet s.a.w said:

"If something new had been introduced regarding the prayers, I would have informed you about it. To the contrary, I am but a human like you—I forget as you forget, so if I forget, remind and inform me. If any of you doubts during his prayer then he should try to discern the more certain and correct case, then complete the prayer based upon it, then perform tasleem, followed by two prostrations."

[Al-Bukhari, Fath Al-Baari No: 401, Muslim, 1168]

2. One cannot discern nor is there any prevalence apparent to indicate which of the two cases is more certain: In this case, one should assume the least of the two and continue based on this assumption, then perform the two prostrations of doubt after tasleem. An example of this would be one who while praying the dzuhur prayer is completely uncertain whether he has completed three or four raka’at and cannot determine which is truer. Thus, he would assume the lesser of the two, i.e. three, and complete another raka’ah then sit for the tashahhud, then prostrate two times before saying "salam."

The basis for this ruling is the hadith related by Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri, r.a, in which he said: the Prophet s.a.w said:

"If any of you doubts during his prayer and he does not know how many [raka’at] he has prayed, whether it is three or four, then he should discard and cast away his doubt. He is to continue upon what one is sure of [i.e. the lesser] then performs two prostrations before making tasleem. If he ends up [in reality] praying five [raka’at], then his prayer will be an intercession for him; and if he ends up completely the [requisite] four [raka’at] then it is targheeman for shaytaan."

(Targheeman: i.e., a way of vexing Satan and humiliating and debasing him, as well as rejecting him as a result of his failure to achieve his desire of disturbing the worshipper.)

[Al-Nawawi in explaining the hadith from Sahih Muslim, 5/60].

[Excerpted from Islam QA]