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What should one do if one unintentionally gets up after the last rakat of a 2 or 3 or 4 rakat s

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Sohail Hanif, SunniPath Academy Teacher

What should one do if one unintentionally gets up after the last rakat of a 2 or 3 or 4 rakat salah? Please explain if it makes any difference if one remembers ones mistake when one has not completely stood up. Please also provide proofs from the texts of the madhab as local practice varies.

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

 
Assalamu alaykum

There are a number of possible scenarios that could occur if somebody accidentally stands up and continues praying after the last rakat of the prayer.

If one were to accidentally stand up after the last rakat of one’s fard prayer one should return to the sitting position as soon as one remembers provided that one has not prostrated for this extra rakat. One would have to prostrate a forgetfulness prostration for delaying the closing salams by standing.

If one realised one’s mistake and sat down before standing up straight then one would not have to prostrate for forgetfulness.

If one were to prostrate for this fifth rakat and had forgotten to sit for tashahhud in the fourth rakat one’s prayer no longer counts as a fard prayer but rather counts as a supererogatory prayer. One can then either finish the prayer straight away or add a sixth rakat. One would have to finish the prayer with a forgetfulness prostration in either case for omitting the sitting in the fourth rakat.

If one had sat for the final sitting and then proceeded to complete the fifth rakat before realising one’s mistake one can either give one’s closing salams straight away or complete the sixth rakat, which is superior, and then give one’s closing salams with a forgetfulness prostration in either case. In this latter case one’s fard prayer is considered legally valid unlike in the previous case due to having sat the final sitting. (Radd al-Muhtar, 1:500-503, Dar Li-Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi)

Sohail Hanif

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