Question: If a person praying mistakenly adds or subtracts a rak’ah, what is the solution? Also, please explain the Sunnah method of Sajdah Sahw.
Answer: If a person mistakenly prays one rak’ah less and then remembers that he has prayed one rak’ah less, instead of repeating the entire prayer, he should only perform one rak’ah. This is narrated from Sayyiduna Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) led the Asr prayer and after performing three rak’ahs, he gave salam and went to his house. Then a person named Kharbaq came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and informed him that there was a mistake in the prayer. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him), while pulling his cloak in anger, came to the people and asked:
اَصَدَقَ هٰذَا ؟ قَالُوْا نَعَمْ فَصَلّٰي رَكْعَةً ثُمَّ سَلَّمَ، ثُمَّ سَجَدَ سَجْدَتَيْنِ ثُمَّ سَلَّمَ
“Did he tell the truth?” The companions said: “Yes!” Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed one rak’ah of prayer, then gave salam, then performed two prostrations, and then gave salam again.
From this hadith, it is understood that if a person’s prayer is short by one rak’ah and he has prayed three rak’ahs, even if some conversation has occurred during this time, he should perform the remaining one rak’ah and then give salam and perform Sajdah Sahw. There are two types of hadiths narrated regarding Sajdah Sahw. In one hadith, Sajdah Sahw is mentioned before salam, and in another hadith, Sajdah Sahw is mentioned after salam. As narrated in Sahih Muslim:
ثُمَّ يَسْجُدُ سَجْدَتَيْنِ قَبْلَ اَنْ يُّسَلِّمَ
“Then two prostrations of Sahw were performed before salam.”
The method is that after the final sitting (Qa’dah), after Tashahhud, sending blessings (Durood), and supplication, say Allahu Akbar and go into prostration, then rise to sit, then prostrate again and then give salam. The method of Sajdah Sahw before salam is agreed upon, and the Sajdah Sahw after salam is not unanimously agreed upon but is established by authentic hadith and is a permissible practice.
Among the Hanafis, the known method of Sajdah Sahw is to recite At-Tahiyyat عبده ورسوله up to a point, then give salam to one side, then recite the full Tashahhud and then give salam. This method is not found in any authentic hadith and has no basis.
