The Ruling on Doubt Regarding the Number of Rak'ahs for the Imam and the Prostration for Forgetfulness
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: I am an imam praying with people, and sometimes I doubt the number of rak'ahs. So I say to myself, "I think it is such and such," based on what seems more likely to me. If the people say Subhan Allah, I perform the prostration for forgetfulness. If they do not say it, I continue my prayer and do not perform the prostration for forgetfulness. Is my action correct?
Answer:
If one doubts the number of rak'ahs, whether he is an imam or praying alone, he must build upon certainty, which is the lesser number, and complete his prayer. He does not take into account the doubtful number. He performs the prostration for forgetfulness. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: I am an imam praying with people, and sometimes I doubt the number of rak'ahs. So I say to myself, "I think it is such and such," based on what seems more likely to me. If the people say Subhan Allah, I perform the prostration for forgetfulness. If they do not say it, I continue my prayer and do not perform the prostration for forgetfulness. Is my action correct?
Answer:
If one doubts the number of rak'ahs, whether he is an imam or praying alone, he must build upon certainty, which is the lesser number, and complete his prayer. He does not take into account the doubtful number. He performs the prostration for forgetfulness. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب البكاء في الصلاة من خشية الله - تعالى - — islamhouse.com (51:10)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.