By: Shaykh Taqi al-Din Abi al-Fath (Translation: Maulana Mahmood Ahmad Ghaznavi)
Looking Up During Salah:Narrated Jabir bin Samurah (RA):
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“People must stop raising their eyes towards the sky during prayer, or their eyesight will not return to them.”
(Sahih Muslim 428)
Key Lessons:❶ Looking around during prayer is contrary to the perfection and humility (khushu‘) required in salah.
❷ Raising one’s eyes toward the sky during prayer is haram and a severe warning is given: a person’s eyesight may be taken away as a consequence.
❸ This behavior causes disturbance and deficiency in prayer.
Sujood al-Sahw: The Remedy for ForgetfulnessAbu Sa‘id al-Khudri (RA) reported:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“If any of you doubts in his prayer and does not know whether he prayed three or four rak‘ahs, he should cast away the doubt and act upon what he is certain of, then perform two prostrations before saying salaam. If he had prayed five, these two sujood will complete his prayer; and if he had prayed four, they will be a humiliation to Shaytaan.”
(Sahih Muslim)
Benefits:❶ If you are uncertain about the rak‘ahs, ignore the doubt and act upon what you are most sure about.
❷ Perform two sujood before salaam in such a case.
❸ If extra rak‘ahs were performed unintentionally, the sujood compensate and perfect the prayer.
❹ If the prayer was correct, the sujood become a means of humiliating Shaytaan.
Variant Report (from Hisham ibn Sa‘d):Another narration mentions:
“If anyone of you doubts in his prayer and does not know whether he prayed three or four, let him stand and complete another rak‘ah.”
(Reported by al-Bayhaqi in al-Ma‘rifah)
