The ruling on one who doubts in his prayer without a predominant suspicion
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Your Eminence! In his second question, the questioner Salem from the Arab Republic of Egypt asks: If a person prays and doubts in his prayer, and he does not have a predominant suspicion, is it sufficient for him to merely perform the prostration of forgetfulness? Or does he build upon what he is certain of and then perform the prostration of forgetfulness?
Answer:
This requires a detailed explanation: If he prayed and had no doubt, and the doubt came after the prayer, then he has no obligation regarding his prayer; his prayer is valid, and praise be to Allah. However, if the doubt occurs during the prayer, he must build upon certainty. If he doubts whether he prayed two or three rak'ahs, he considers it two and then completes the rest. If he doubts whether it is three or four, he considers it three, completes the prayer, and performs the prostration of forgetfulness before the taslim. Likewise, if he doubts whether he prostrated once or twice, he performs the second prostration, building upon certainty by performing the second prostration. This applies if the waswas (whispers) are occasional.
As for if waswas (whispers) predominate over him, and he is frequently afflicted with waswas, he should discard them and build upon his suspicion, acting according to his suspicion, and praise be to Allah. He owes nothing, and he does not perform the prostration of forgetfulness. Rather, he acts according to his suspicion, and praise be to Allah, because this is due to the enemy's predominance over him... The enemy of Allah has increased waswas upon him and confused his insight. Therefore, he should not pay attention to it, but rather oppose it and contradict it.
As for if the waswas is ordinary, he builds upon certainty, and praise be to Allah. Or he builds upon his predominant suspicion if something predominates in his suspicion; there is no harm in that. If he doubts whether he prayed two or three, and his predominant suspicion is that it is three, he considers it three and performs the prostration of forgetfulness after the taslim.
As for if he has hesitation and does not have a predominant suspicion, he builds upon certainty. If he doubts whether it is three or two, he considers it two. If he doubts whether it is three or four, he considers it three, completes the prayer, and then performs the prostration of forgetfulness before the taslim.
The presenter: May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge and benefit the Muslims through you.
Your Eminence! In his second question, the questioner Salem from the Arab Republic of Egypt asks: If a person prays and doubts in his prayer, and he does not have a predominant suspicion, is it sufficient for him to merely perform the prostration of forgetfulness? Or does he build upon what he is certain of and then perform the prostration of forgetfulness?
Answer:
This requires a detailed explanation: If he prayed and had no doubt, and the doubt came after the prayer, then he has no obligation regarding his prayer; his prayer is valid, and praise be to Allah. However, if the doubt occurs during the prayer, he must build upon certainty. If he doubts whether he prayed two or three rak'ahs, he considers it two and then completes the rest. If he doubts whether it is three or four, he considers it three, completes the prayer, and performs the prostration of forgetfulness before the taslim. Likewise, if he doubts whether he prostrated once or twice, he performs the second prostration, building upon certainty by performing the second prostration. This applies if the waswas (whispers) are occasional.
As for if waswas (whispers) predominate over him, and he is frequently afflicted with waswas, he should discard them and build upon his suspicion, acting according to his suspicion, and praise be to Allah. He owes nothing, and he does not perform the prostration of forgetfulness. Rather, he acts according to his suspicion, and praise be to Allah, because this is due to the enemy's predominance over him... The enemy of Allah has increased waswas upon him and confused his insight. Therefore, he should not pay attention to it, but rather oppose it and contradict it.
As for if the waswas is ordinary, he builds upon certainty, and praise be to Allah. Or he builds upon his predominant suspicion if something predominates in his suspicion; there is no harm in that. If he doubts whether he prayed two or three, and his predominant suspicion is that it is three, he considers it three and performs the prostration of forgetfulness after the taslim.
As for if he has hesitation and does not have a predominant suspicion, he builds upon certainty. If he doubts whether it is three or two, he considers it two. If he doubts whether it is three or four, he considers it three, completes the prayer, and then performs the prostration of forgetfulness before the taslim.
The presenter: May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge and benefit the Muslims through you.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.