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Similarly, their disagreement over omitting the recitation of al-Fātihah in prayer does not fall outside the principle we have established. Rather, it follows from their disagreement over whether its recitation is obligatory in the prayer as a whole, obligatory in every rak‘ah, or not obligatory at all. Those who do not consider it obligatory hold that the prostrations of forgetfulness suffice for its omission. Those who consider it obligatory in every rak‘ah hold that the affected rak‘ah must be disregarded. Those who consider it obligatory in the prayer as a whole require him to repeat the prayer if he has not recited it at all. If he recites it in a single rak‘ah, regardless of which prayer it is, he performs the prostrations and does not repeat the prayer. Any of their statements that depart from this do not follow analogical reasoning; rather, they reflect juristic preference, taking the disagreement into account.
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This is the ruling on omissions due to forgetfulness. As for deliberate omissions, omitting an obligatory element invalidates the prayer, whether it consists of words or actions. If he omits a single Sunnah act, one view is that this invalidates the prayer; another is that he should seek Allah’s forgiveness and nothing further is required of him. If he deliberately omits many Sunnah acts, this invalidates the prayer. If what he omits is an act of additional merit, nothing is required of him.
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If both an addition and an omission occur in his prayer, involving matters that require the prostrations of forgetfulness, one view is that he performs the prostrations before the closing salutation, and another is that he performs them afterward. Both views can be inferred from al-Mudawwanah, and both are explicitly stated in ‘Īsā’s transmission in al-‘Utbiyyah. The better-known view is that he performs the prostrations before the closing salutation. This can be inferred from the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
“If one of you is uncertain during his prayer and does not know whether he has prayed three rak‘ahs or four, let him pray one rak‘ah, then perform two prostrations while seated, before the closing salutation.”
The hadith continues. This is because, if the rak‘ah whose omission he doubts was the first or second, the third has become the second. He would therefore have been required to recite al-Fātihah and another surah in it, and to sit afterward; yet he recited