The ruling on one who doubts the number of rak'ahs in his prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
I was in one of the four-rak'ah prayers, "Asr," and when I sat for the first tashahhud, a doubt came to me regarding the prayer: was I in the first rak'ah and sat for the tashahhud by mistake, or was I in the second rak'ah? Nothing was more likely in my mind, so I stood up to complete the first tashahhud and considered it the second rak'ah, and I completed the prayer. Then I performed the prostration for forgetfulness after the taslim and said the taslim. Is my action correct, and what do you advise me to do? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If you did what you mentioned based on your predominant suspicion, then the action is valid and you owe nothing; because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan Abi Dawud 1020Sahih (Al-Albani) narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih.
However, if you were in a state of doubt and nothing was more likely in your mind regarding what you did, then it is obligatory for you to build upon certainty, and to consider yourself in the first rak'ah and complete your prayer, then perform the prostration for forgetfulness before you say the taslim; for what is established in the authentic hadith from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. And based on what we have mentioned, if when you completed the prayer you intended that you were in the second rak'ah while you were in a state of doubt and nothing was more likely in your mind regarding that, then your prayer is not valid, and you must repeat it. May Allah guide them all.
I was in one of the four-rak'ah prayers, "Asr," and when I sat for the first tashahhud, a doubt came to me regarding the prayer: was I in the first rak'ah and sat for the tashahhud by mistake, or was I in the second rak'ah? Nothing was more likely in my mind, so I stood up to complete the first tashahhud and considered it the second rak'ah, and I completed the prayer. Then I performed the prostration for forgetfulness after the taslim and said the taslim. Is my action correct, and what do you advise me to do? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If you did what you mentioned based on your predominant suspicion, then the action is valid and you owe nothing; because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
and when any of you is in doubt about his prayer he should aim at what is correct, and complete his prayer in that respect, then give the salutation and afterwards made two prostrations.
إذا شك أحدكم في صلاته فليتحر الصواب فليتم عمله، ثم ليسلم، ثم ليسجد سجدتينHowever, if you were in a state of doubt and nothing was more likely in your mind regarding what you did, then it is obligatory for you to build upon certainty, and to consider yourself in the first rak'ah and complete your prayer, then perform the prostration for forgetfulness before you say the taslim; for what is established in the authentic hadith from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
If one of you doubts in his prayer and does not know how many he prayed, three or four, let him discard the doubt and build upon what he is certain of, then let him prostrate two prostrations before he says the taslim. If he prayed five, they made his prayer even, and if he prayed the full amount, they were a humiliation for Satan
إذا شك أحدكم في صلاته فلم يدر كم صلى ثلاثًا أم أربعًا فليطرح الشك وليبن على ما استيقن، ثم ليسجد سجدتين قبل أن يسلم، فإن كان صلى خمسًا شفعن له صلاته، وإن كان صلى تمامًا كانتًا ترغيمًا للشيطان
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.