Lu'lu' wal-Marjan

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When the call to prayer (adhan) is given, Satan flees while passing wind so that he does not hear the adhan. When the adhan is finished, he returns. Then when the iqamah is pronounced, he flees again. But as soon as the iqamah is finished, he comes back and puts various doubts into the heart of the worshipper and says, "Remember such and such thing." In this way, he reminds him of things which he did not have in his mind before, so much so that the worshipper does not remember how many rak‘ahs he has prayed. Therefore, if anyone does not remember whether he has prayed three or four rak‘ahs, he should perform two prostrations of forgetfulness while sitting.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Buhaina (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up after leading two rak'ahs of a prayer and did not sit for the first tashahhud, so the people also stood up with him. When he completed the prayer, we began to wait for him to say salam, but before saying salam, he said "Allahu Akbar" while sitting and performed two prostrations while sitting, then he said salam.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led the prayer. (Ibrahim, the narrator, said: I do not know whether there was an addition or a reduction in the prayer.) Then, when he finished with salam, it was said to him, "O Messenger of Allah, has a new command come regarding the prayer?" He said, "What is the matter?" The people said, "You have performed such and such rak'ahs." Upon hearing this, he turned both his feet and faced the qiblah, and performed two prostrations (of forgetfulness), and then made salam. Then he turned towards us and said, "If a new command had been revealed regarding the prayer, I would have surely informed you beforehand. But I am only a human being like you; just as you forget, I also forget. Therefore, when I forget, remind me. And if anyone is in doubt during the prayer, then he should think about what is correct and complete the prayer accordingly, then after making salam, perform two prostrations (of forgetfulness)."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) led us in the Zuhr prayer of two rak‘ahs and then said salam. After that, he stood in the front part of the mosque, that is, the portico, leaning on a piece of wood and placed his hand on it. Among those present were Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), but they were afraid to speak, and the hasty people left the mosque. The companions said among themselves that perhaps there had been a deficiency in the prayer (that is why the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, led only two rak‘ahs of Zuhr instead of four). Among those present was a companion whom you used to address as Dhu’l-Yadayn (the one with long hands). He said, “O Messenger of Allah, has the number of rak‘ahs of the prayer been reduced, or have you forgotten?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I have neither forgotten nor has the number of rak‘ahs been reduced.” The companions said, “No, O Messenger of Allah, you have forgotten.” So he remembered and said, “Dhu’l-Yadayn has spoken the truth.” Then he stood up and performed two more rak‘ahs, then said salam, and then said takbir and went into prostration (of forgetfulness), making a prostration like that of the prayer, or even longer. Then he raised his head and said takbir, then went into prostration again, like the first prostration or even longer, then raised his head and said takbir.