Is it obligatory for one who forgets during his prostration and does not know whether it is the first or the second prostration to act upon certainty?

The questioner : My final question, Shaykh, I have taken up much of your time. I pray in the mosque, and perhaps out of every five prayers, I prostrate in four, may Allah know best about this matter. It is that while I am prostrating, I forget whether this is the first or the second prostration... Naturally, I am forced to act upon the lesser number, build upon that, and prostrate the prostration of forgetfulness. So this has become a bit of a... I do not know?

The Shaykh : No, the correct legal ruling in the Shari'ah is that before acting upon the lesser number, one should seek the truth. So, whatever seems more likely to him, he builds upon that. If he doubts and sees that this prostration is either the first or the second, he should quickly seek the truth. If it seems more likely to him that it is the second, he does not act upon the lesser number in this case. If he has sought the truth, the prostration of forgetfulness is obligatory in both cases. The issue is only whether he acts upon the lesser number immediately, or after seeking the truth. He deliberates and says to himself, naturally in the blink of an eye, is this prostration the first or the second? No, this is the second. If so, he does not act upon the lesser number. Is this prostration the first or the second? He does not know here, so he acts upon the lesser number. This is the second scenario, and the third and final scenario: Is this the first or the second? If it is the first, he performs the second and prostrates for forgetfulness, and prostrates the prostration of forgetfulness. After this ruling, there is no difference between one who remembers it from among them and one who forgets it from among them. But there is an opinion among the Hanafis that if forgetfulness becomes frequent for the one praying, to the extent that it causes him hardship, then it is not taken into account. The forgetfulness is not considered, rather it is ignored, and he builds upon what appears to him. This is an opinion of the Hanafis, and we do not find a specific evidence for it other than the removal of hardship. So, if a person feels that this happens to him frequently, and this may be a matter of waswasah (whispers of Satan), then it is good to adopt the opinion of the Hanafis to remove the hardship.

The questioner : I mean, if he feels that it is mostly... but sometimes the suspicion arises that he prostrates at that time.