It is narrated from Ata bin Yasar (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any of you is in doubt about his prayer and does not know how much he has prayed, three rak'ahs or four, let him pray one rak'ah and perform two prostrations while sitting before giving the salam. If the rak'ah he prayed was the fifth, it will become even with these two prostrations; and if it was the fourth, these two prostrations will be a cause of humiliation and disgrace for Satan."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3825
Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any of you is in doubt in his prayer and does not know how much he has prayed, three rak'ahs or four, let him cast aside the doubt and act on what is certain, then perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness before giving the salam. If his prayer was odd, these two prostrations will make it even; and if his prayer was even, the two prostrations will be a cause of humiliation for Satan."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3826
Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "When any of you is in doubt in his prayer: if he is in doubt between one and two, let him count it as one; if he is in doubt between two and three, let him count them as two; and if he is in doubt between three and four, let him consider them three, so that the uncertainty falls on an addition. Then let him perform two prostrations before the salam, and then give the salam."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3827
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Satan comes to one of you in his prayer and throws him into doubt about his prayer, until the worshipper does not know how much he has prayed. So when that happens to any of you, let him perform two prostrations while sitting."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3828
The same narration is also reported through another chain, but in it are the words that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let him perform two prostrations while sitting, before the salam."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3829
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:صحيح شاذ
Hadith Takhrij«صحيح شاذ۔ قال ابن رجب في الفتح 7/ 225»
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any of you is praying and does not know whether he has left something out of the prayer or added to it, let him perform two prostrations at the end while sitting, then give the salam."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3830
This hadith is reported through another chain, and in it he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then let him perform two prostrations before the salam, then give the salam."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3831
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the mu'adhdhin calls the adhan, Satan runs away from the mosque, making a sound of wind. Then when the mu'adhdhin falls silent, he comes back. Then when the mu'adhdhin calls the iqamah, he runs away from the mosque again, breaking wind, until he comes to a Muslim man during his prayer and comes between him and his heart, and the man does not know whether he has added something to his prayer or left something out. When this happens to any of you, let him perform two prostrations while sitting before giving the salam, then give the salam."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3833
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any of you forgets in his prayer and does not know whether he has left something out of the prayer or added to it, he should perform two prostrations while sitting, then give the salam."
A similar narration is also reported from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him).
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3834
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:صحيح
Hadith Takhrij«صحيح۔ قال الدار قطني في العلل 1761»
It is reported from Sayyiduna Ibn Buhaynah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in the Zuhr or Asr prayer, stood straight up after the first two rak'ahs (without reciting the tashahhud) and did not go back, until he had completed the prayer. Then he performed two prostrations before the salam, and then gave the salam.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3835
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:صحيح
Hadith Takhrij«صحيح۔ اصل الحديث متفق عليه وقد تقدم برقم 3813۔ 3814»
(a) Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Buhaynah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in prayer, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up in the first two rak'ahs without sitting, and continued his prayer. When he had completed his prayer, the people were waiting for him (peace and blessings be upon him) to give the salam. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said the takbir and prostrated before giving the salam, then raised his head, then said the takbir and performed the second prostration, then raised his head and gave the salam.
It is an established hadith; there is no doubt about its authenticity.
(b) In a narration of al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him): The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the prostration of forgetfulness both before the salam and after it, and the last of the two practices was the one before the salam.
However, this statement of al-Zuhri is munqati' (broken): he did not attribute it to any of the Companions, and Mutarrif bin Mazin is not strong.
(c) In another narration, Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his forgetfulness, and then al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: That was before Badr, and afterwards the rulings became firmly settled.
(d) This is what has reached us from al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) on this matter, except that the one who narrated this story to al-Zuhri did not mention the prostrations of forgetfulness to him, and he held that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness on the day of Dhul-Yadayn or Dhul-Shimalayn (may Allah be pleased with him), as we shall mention. In sha' Allah (if Allah wills).
Others, however, have established his two prostrations of forgetfulness on the day of Dhul-Yadayn (may Allah be pleased with him) from Abu Salamah, Ibn Sirin and Abu Sufyan (may Allah have mercy on them), through Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him); and the well-known fatwa of al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) is that the prostrations of forgetfulness are performed before the salam.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3836
Muhammad bin Muhajir (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his brother Amr bin Muhajir al-Dimashqi (may Allah have mercy on him) that Imam al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said to Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him): The two prostrations of forgetfulness are before the salam.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 3837
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:صحيح
Hadith Takhrij«صحيح۔ اخرجه ابن عبدالبر في الاستذكار 1/ 524»