The Command to Follow the Imam and Casting Aside Whispers and Doubts
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Your Eminence! If the imam stands for the fifth rak'ah in the prayer, and the reason for his standing is that he left out a pillar of the prayer, whether he forgot to recite al-Fatihah in one of the rak'ahs or forgot one of the prostrations, what is the position of the ma'mum now: Is it obligatory for him to follow him, or after the imam concludes the fifth rak'ah, does the ma'mum complete a fifth rak'ah?
I say: May Allah reward you! Your example of leaving a pillar by leaving the prostration or the bowing does not hold; because if he leaves it, he will be reminded; but what happens is that the imam may forget to recite al-Fatihah, then he performs a rak'ah after the completion of the four rak'ahs in place of the rak'ah he left out; because if a person leaves al-Fatihah in the first rak'ah, the second rak'ah becomes the first for him, the third becomes the second, and the fourth becomes the third, so he needs to perform the fourth, and the ma'mum does not know, so if the imam stands for the fifth and is reminded and does not return, do not say: that the man is stubborn and that you must leave him; rather: perhaps he forgot al-Fatihah and you do not know, so we say: you sit down and wait until you conclude the prayer with the imam.
However, by the way, I would like to say: Satan often afflicts the son of Adam and makes him doubt his prayer, so whoever is afflicted with many doubts should not pay attention to them,Meaning: for example, if this man doubts every time he prays, we say: do not go to the doubts; when doubts become numerous, they become waswas (whispers) and it is not permissible to pay attention to them.
I say: May Allah reward you! Your example of leaving a pillar by leaving the prostration or the bowing does not hold; because if he leaves it, he will be reminded; but what happens is that the imam may forget to recite al-Fatihah, then he performs a rak'ah after the completion of the four rak'ahs in place of the rak'ah he left out; because if a person leaves al-Fatihah in the first rak'ah, the second rak'ah becomes the first for him, the third becomes the second, and the fourth becomes the third, so he needs to perform the fourth, and the ma'mum does not know, so if the imam stands for the fifth and is reminded and does not return, do not say: that the man is stubborn and that you must leave him; rather: perhaps he forgot al-Fatihah and you do not know, so we say: you sit down and wait until you conclude the prayer with the imam.
However, by the way, I would like to say: Satan often afflicts the son of Adam and makes him doubt his prayer, so whoever is afflicted with many doubts should not pay attention to them,Meaning: for example, if this man doubts every time he prays, we say: do not go to the doubts; when doubts become numerous, they become waswas (whispers) and it is not permissible to pay attention to them.