Answered by Sidi Moustafa Elqabbany
We were praying ‘Asr in the office few days ago. The Imam forgot the fourth rak’a and sujuud cycle but made the ‘sujuud sawh’ before the salam. Then after the Salam he led us again in one extra raka’ and sujuud cycle in liu of the missed one although he made the sujuud of forgetfulness. Was this right?
Dealing with mistakes in prayer is one of the more difficult topics in basic fiqh. The best thing to do is to carefully study a text with a qualified teacher and ask a lot of questions. There is more than one possibility given the scenario presented, depending on why the imam acted the way he did. Because of this, some general guidelines will be presented below:
1. When in doubt how many rak’as one has performed or how many times one has prostrated, one should assume the lesser amount, complete the proper number, and then prostrate out of forgetfulness at the end.
2. When in doubt whether or not to prostrate out of forgetfulness, the correct course of action is not to prostrate. Prostrating when it is uncalled for, as well as adding any integral that is uncalled for, invalidates the prayer. On the other hand, if one omits the prostration of forgetfulness when it is called for, the prayer is deficient, yet valid.
3. If the imam ends his prayer with salams prematurely, the follower should not follow him. Rather, he or she should assume the imam is mistaken and correct him. If the imam continues the prayer, the follower can continue to follow him. Otherwise, the follower completes the prayer alone. If the follower doesn’t correct the imam and instead immediately continues the prayer on his own, his prayer is still valid.
4. If one prematurely ends the prayer with salams and then remember soon thereafter, with one’s chest still facing the qibla, and while having spoken four words or fewer, one rises immediately and completes the prayer. One does not make the opening Allahu Akbar for the remainder of the prayer; rather, one simply rises and prays what is left. Merely saying Allahu Akbar would not invalidate the prayer, but intending a new prayer (which is a part of the opening Allahu Akbar) invalidates any prayer that one is currently performing.
Allah the Exalted knows best.
Related Answer:
Congregational Prayer
Moustafa Elqabbany
Metro Vancouver, Canada