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Prayer: missing a rakat…

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Sohail Hanif, SunniPath Academy Teacher

During prayer if I accidentally miss a rakat, or a key portion of the prayer but do not realize it till afterwards, do I redo the entire prayer.

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

>Wa ‘Alaykum al-Salam

  If one finishes ones prayer and then realises that one missed something out, then if what one missed was a sunna then one need not do anything.  If it was a wajib element of the prayer then provided that one has not spoken or left one’s place of prayer then one should prostrate two prostrations for forgetfulness followed by the tashahhud and two salams.  If however one has spoken or left one’s place of prayer then it is wajib to repeat the prayer. [Radd al-Muhtar 2:92, Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilimiyya]

If the omitted is a fard element of the prayer then provided that one has not spoken or left one’s place of prayer then it is possible for one to still make up what one has missed.  The general principle is that one makes up what one missed along with whatever else comes after it in a rakat.  So for example, if one missed a prostration then one merely prostrates followed by the tashahhud and salams.  If one missed a bowing (ruku) then one bows followed by two sajdas, the tashahhud and salams.  If one missed a whole rakat then one makes up a whole rakat. [al-Bahr al-Ra’iq, 1:316, Dar al-Kutub al-Islami]

And Allah knows best.

Sohail Hanif

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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