The ruling on doubt regarding the number of rak'ahs
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The sister asking says: My doubt, O Shaykh, is frequent in prayer, especially regarding the number of rak'ahs; is it the third or the fourth in the four-rak'ah prayer? Doubt overtakes me, and I act on what is more likely or what seems more likely to me. Is my action correct?
Answer:
If this doubt is of the nature of waswas (whispers of Satan), the Muslim should discard it and not pay attention to it, proceed with his prayer, and seek refuge in Allah from Satan. However, if it is a genuine doubt, not waswas, but a real doubt that occurred to him, he should build upon certainty, which is the lesser number. So if he doubts whether he prayed three or four, he makes it three, completes the fourth, and performs the prostration for forgetfulness. Yes.
The sister asking says: My doubt, O Shaykh, is frequent in prayer, especially regarding the number of rak'ahs; is it the third or the fourth in the four-rak'ah prayer? Doubt overtakes me, and I act on what is more likely or what seems more likely to me. Is my action correct?
Answer:
If this doubt is of the nature of waswas (whispers of Satan), the Muslim should discard it and not pay attention to it, proceed with his prayer, and seek refuge in Allah from Satan. However, if it is a genuine doubt, not waswas, but a real doubt that occurred to him, he should build upon certainty, which is the lesser number. So if he doubts whether he prayed three or four, he makes it three, completes the fourth, and performs the prostration for forgetfulness. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/286 — archive.org (7:22)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.