Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Q if I pray only 2 rakaa in a 4 rakaa prayer then realised his mistake after finishing salam , what does one do?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Mistake in Prayer

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.394 Narrated by Abdullah

The Prophet (saws) prayed (and the sub-narrator Ibrahim said, "I do not know whether he prayed more or less than usual"), and when he had finished the prayers he was asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Has there been any change in the prayers?" He said, "What is it?' The people said, "You have prayed so much and so much." So the Prophet bent his legs, faced the Qibla and performed two prostration's (of Sahu) and finished his prayers with Taslim (by turning his face to right and left saying: "As-Salamu'Alaikum-Warahmat-ullah"). When he turned his face to us he said, "If there had been anything changed in the prayer, surely I would have informed you but I am a human being like you and liable to forget like you. So if I forget remind me and if anyone of you is doubtful about his prayer, he should follow what he thinks to be correct and complete his prayer accordingly and finish it and do two prostrations (of Sahu)."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.324 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "When anyone of you stands for the prayers, Satan comes and puts him in doubts till he forgets how many Rakat he has prayed. So if this happens to anyone of you, he should perform two prostrations of Sahu while sitting. "

In light of the above hadiths, if a person has erroneously said his tasleems after two rakahs in a four rakah prayer, he should pray the balance two rakahs whenever he realizes his mistake, and at the end of the prayer, make the sajdah-suhoo (sajdah of forgetfulness).

There are two authentic narrations on how the Messenger of Allah (saws) performed the Sajdah-Sahoo and both are acceptable. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah (saws) did two sujjud before the taslim, and in the story of Dhul-Yadain narrated by Abu Hurairah, it is recorded that the Prophet (saws) made the prostrations after the taslim.

The way to perform the ‘Sajdah-Sahoo’ (or Sajdahs of forgetfulness) is to go into sajdah and glorify Allah, then sit and make supplication to Allah, then again go into sajdah and glorify Allah, and then perform the tasleems on either side.

This whole set of actions related above is called ‘sajdah-sahoo’ and is to be done only once at the end of the prayer, if the person has made a mistake/s in the prayer.

Sajdah-Sahoo 1:

After one has completed the prayer, and prays the ‘tashahud’; just before the tasleems of either side, one should make the two sajdahs for ‘sajdah-sahoo’ and then perform the taslems on either side.

Sajdah-Sahoo 2:

One completes the full prayer, prays the tashahud and makes the tasleems on either side. Immediately after the tasleems, one should make the two sajdahs for ‘sajdah-sahoo’ and then again perform the tasleems on either side.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan