Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
what do I do if I forget whether I prayed fajr or not? Right now I feel I have prayed it but have slight doubts. I am not going to do qadha of it. Am doing the correct thing?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray this finds you in the best of health and spirits.
There is an important legal principle related to this, namely that, “When certainty is not possible, one resorts to reasoned judgment.” Thus, if you aren’t certain whether you have prayed or not, then you should exercise your reasoned judgment–and if you are reasonably sure that you prayed, then you don’t need to make it up and should ignore doubts.
If you remain genuinely unsure, then:
[1] After the time, you should assume that you prayed–unless reasonably sure that you didn’t.
[2] Within the time, if genuinely unsure, it is best to pray–unless you are someone given to waswasa (baseless misgivings), in which case, you should assume that you prayed, unless you are sure otherwise.
[ Ala’ al-Din Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-`Ala’iyya; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar ]
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani