The ruling on one who doubts the number of rak'ahs
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
This is a question that came from one of the brothers. He says: I frequently experience doubt in prayer regarding the number of rak'ahs; is it the third or the fourth in a four-rak'ah prayer? So I build my prayer on what seems more likely to me. Is my action correct?
The Shaykh:
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. If you doubt the number of rak'ahs, there are two matters before you. The first is that one of the two possibilities is more likely in your mind; in that case, you take that one, build your prayer upon it, and complete it. The second case is that nothing is more likely in your mind and the doubt remains balanced; in that case, you take the lesser number, build your prayer upon it, and complete your prayer. So if you doubt whether you prayed three or four, you make it three, you perform the fourth, and then you prostrate for forgetfulness after the salam. Yes.
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
This is a question that came from one of the brothers. He says: I frequently experience doubt in prayer regarding the number of rak'ahs; is it the third or the fourth in a four-rak'ah prayer? So I build my prayer on what seems more likely to me. Is my action correct?
The Shaykh:
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. If you doubt the number of rak'ahs, there are two matters before you. The first is that one of the two possibilities is more likely in your mind; in that case, you take that one, build your prayer upon it, and complete it. The second case is that nothing is more likely in your mind and the doubt remains balanced; in that case, you take the lesser number, build your prayer upon it, and complete your prayer. So if you doubt whether you prayed three or four, you make it three, you perform the fourth, and then you prostrate for forgetfulness after the salam. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/280 — archive.org (0:53)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.