Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
whilst i was praying Asr, i somehow thought i heard the imam pronounce the takbir to come out of the 1st sujud and raised my head slightly up off the ground enough to realise that everybody was still in sujud and then placed my head back on the ground and waited for the imam to pronounce takbir. Is the validity of the prayer affected?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.
Getting ahead of the imam by mistake is excused and doesn’t affect the prayer in any way. However, one does not do so deliberately, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered us to follow the imam and not get ahead.
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani