The criterion for the addition for which the prostration for forgetfulness is prescribed
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O Shaykh! If I am in a four-unit prayer and I stand up from the first tashahhud in error, and I do not rise to the upright position, should I go back? And what is the criterion for the addition for which the prostration for forgetfulness is prescribed?
If a person stands up from the first tashahhud, and he completes standing up, he does not go back; he completes his prayer and then prostrates two prostrations before the taslim. If he remembers before he has completed standing up, he goes back, because he has not reached the second pillar that comes after the tashahhud. He goes back and recites the tashahhud.In this case, we say: If a person’s buttocks have left his heels, it is obligatory for him to prostrate for forgetfulness, because it is an addition. Otherwise, the prostration for forgetfulness is not obligatory. The apparent meaning of the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah is that if he goes back, he owes nothing, even if his buttocks have left his heels, because this addition is not intended for its own sake, as it is a transition from one pillar to another. If he prostrates for forgetfulness as the jurists said, there is nothing wrong with it. If he leaves it, as is the apparent meaning of the hadith, there is nothing wrong with it.
If a person stands up from the first tashahhud, and he completes standing up, he does not go back; he completes his prayer and then prostrates two prostrations before the taslim. If he remembers before he has completed standing up, he goes back, because he has not reached the second pillar that comes after the tashahhud. He goes back and recites the tashahhud.In this case, we say: If a person’s buttocks have left his heels, it is obligatory for him to prostrate for forgetfulness, because it is an addition. Otherwise, the prostration for forgetfulness is not obligatory. The apparent meaning of the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah is that if he goes back, he owes nothing, even if his buttocks have left his heels, because this addition is not intended for its own sake, as it is a transition from one pillar to another. If he prostrates for forgetfulness as the jurists said, there is nothing wrong with it. If he leaves it, as is the apparent meaning of the hadith, there is nothing wrong with it.