sitting between the two prostrations, composure in every posture, the final tashahhud together with its sitting, sending blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ therein,1 maintaining the prescribed order, and the concluding salutation.

Its obligatory elements are: every takbīr apart from the opening one; the proclamation samiʿa Allāhu liman ḥamida; the response rabbana wa laka al-ḥamd; the tasbīḥs of bowing and prostration,2 once each; asking forgiveness—“rabbi’ghfir lī”—once between the two prostrations, though three times is recommended; and the first tashahhud with its sitting. Whatever is not included among the conditions, pillars, or foregoing obligations is a sunnah.

Whoever drops a condition without a valid excuse—intention being excepted, for it is never dispensed with—or who deliberately abandons a pillar or an obligation, his prayer is invalid; the same is not true of the remaining elements.

Everything else consists of recommended words and actions. Prostration of forgetfulness is not legislated for omitting them, although there is no harm if one nevertheless performs it.