The ruling on one who is frequently forgetful and does not know how much he has prayed
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
An elderly man says: “I pray whatever Allah wills of the night prayer, so I become very forgetful; I conclude the prayer after three [rak'ahs], after four, and I do not know how much I have prayed? What is the ruling on my prayer?”
Answer:
He should build upon certainty, and if something prevails in his opinion, he should build upon that prevailing opinion if this matter occurs frequently with him, and he should perform the prostration for forgetfulness.
If the opinion that prevails in his mind is what he is obligated to do, then there is no prostration for forgetfulness required of him if that opinion prevails.
An elderly man says: “I pray whatever Allah wills of the night prayer, so I become very forgetful; I conclude the prayer after three [rak'ahs], after four, and I do not know how much I have prayed? What is the ruling on my prayer?”
Answer:
He should build upon certainty, and if something prevails in his opinion, he should build upon that prevailing opinion if this matter occurs frequently with him, and he should perform the prostration for forgetfulness.
If the opinion that prevails in his mind is what he is obligated to do, then there is no prostration for forgetfulness required of him if that opinion prevails.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.