Chapter: The Prostration of Forgetfulness

The sujūd al-sahw (prostration of forgetfulness) is obligatory for any addition or omission. After giving salām one performs two prostrations, then recites the tashahhud and ends with salām.

Prostration becomes due when the worshipper inserts into the prayer an act of its kind that does not belong to it, omits a recommended act, leaves out the recitation of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, the qunūt, the tashahhud, the extra takbīrs of the two ʿEid prayers, or when the imam recites aloud where the voice should be low or recites silently where it should be audible.

If the imam errs, the followers must prostrate with him; if the imam does not prostrate, the congregation does not prostrate. If a follower errs, neither the imam nor the rest of the congregation are required to prostrate.

Whoever forgets the first qaʿdah (sitting) and remembers while closer to sitting than to standing should sit, recite the tashahhud, and then perform sujūd al-sahw. If he is closer to standing, he does not return but still performs the prostration of forgetfulness.

If one forgets the final qaʿdah and rises for a fifth rakʿah, he must return to the sitting position so long as he has not yet performed a prostration, disregard the fifth rakʿah, and then make sujūd al-sahw. If he has already sealed the fifth rakʿah with a prostration, his obligatory prayer is nullified, becomes voluntary, and he must add a sixth rakʿah.

If, in the fourth rakʿah, he sits for the length of the tashahhud and then stands without giving salām, thinking it was the first sitting, he should return to sitting so long as he has not prostrated in the fifth rakʿah, and then give salām. But if he has sealed the fifth rakʿah with a prostration, he must attach