Tayseer al-Allam Sharh Umdah al-Ahkam
The Book of Salaat: Part Two
Forgetfulness
in Prayer and Prostration as Compensation for it.
As- Sahw means
forgetfulness – when one leaves something without being aware or conscious of
it. There is no blame on the one who has done so
mistakenly due to forgetfulness. Sajdah
as Sahw is meant to correct the defect/shortcoming in the salaat
The Prophet saw is reported to have
said: My ummah have been pardoned for mistakes or forgetfulness.
However, this does not have an authentic
wording but Ibn Majah has a hadith with different wording but which is saheeh.
“Verily Allah has
removed the blame from my ummah for their mistakes or forgetfulness or that
which they are forced to do.”
Albani considered this authentic.
This is proof that we should not feel
shame about making a mistake. It is
natural to do so and Allah has given a way to correct it.
Even the Prophet saw made mistakes due
to some wisdom or purpose that Allah intended.
There is a wisdom as to why Allah allowed the
Prophet saw to fall into error in his actions.
One is so that the manner of correcting
would be part of the Shariah. In addition, it is a means of ease and
comfort. Since we know the Prophet saw
on occasion also fell into error it does not mean that there is a defect in our
deen or emaan.
Some of the causes for Sajda Sahw
1) Ziyada – when one adds something extra to the salaat
2) Naqs – when one leaves something out from the prayer.
3) Shaq – in doubt about something done in the prayer.
Sujood has been legislated as a means of
earning Allah’s pleasure by correction and a source of anger and humiliation
for the Shaitaan whose fault it is we divert from our salaat. It is also a means of correcting the
shortcoming or defect in the prayer.
This sujood has Difference of Opinion
surrounding it and is a source of confusion for many Muslims.
Sheikh Uthaymeen wrote a book on this
subject and he said the reason why he wrote it was because many Muslims were
unaware of the regulations surrounding this sujood. It is necessary for us to
have knowledge of it as we are bound to be forgetful in the prayer at one time
or another.
Description of Sujood Sahu
·
While
sitting say takbeer and prostrate
·
Say
takbeer and sit up
·
Say
takbeer and prostrate
·
Say
takbeer and sit up
·
Make
tasleem
The supplication in sujood may be
whatever one will, based on the statement of the Prophet saw “as for sujood, a
person should make ijtihaad as much as possible and it is expected that his
supplication will be answered.”
We should face the qibla for sujood if
it is carried out after the tasleem. Ibn
Masood narrated “The Prophet saw propped up his feet and faced the
qibla..” However, if it is before the
tasleem then it is expected that one would be facing the Qibla anyway.
Tashenhud after the two prostrations has
been narrated in some hadith and the isnad appear to be authentic in Ibn Dawood
and Tirmidi. However, it was found that many great scholars said that these
hadith were daeef because narrated through many different chains of narration
for Imran ibn Hussein and the narrations that do not mention the tashenhud are
more authentic.
So if there are two hadith with
authentic chains but one is more authentic than the other ad there is a
contradiction between them then the stronger is taken as authentic and the
other is rejected – This is called Shagh.
Shagh – a hadith that appears to be authentic but it
contradicts a stronger hadith with a more authentic chain of narrators.
Hadith 101
Ibn Sereen reported
Abu Hurairah as saying:
The Messenger of Allah
led us in one of two evening prayers, Zuhr or Asr and gave salutations after
two rakats and going towards a piece of wood which was placed to the direction
of the Qibla in the mosque, leaned on it looking as if he were angry. Abu Bakr and Umar were among the people and
they were too afraid to speak to him and the people came out in haste saying:
the prayer has been shortened. However, among them was a man called
Dhul-Yaddain who said: Messenger of Allah, has the prayer been shortened or
have you forgotten? The Apostle of Allah
looked to the right and the left ad said: What was Dhul–Yaddain sating? They said: He is right. You (the Prophet)
offered but two rakat. He then offered
two more rakats and gave salutations, then said takbir and prostrated and
lifted his head. He (the narrator) then
says: it has been reported to me by Imran ibn Hussein that he said: He (then)
gave salutation
Muslim
In Bukhaaree, Imran ibn Hussein said it was certain
that the prayer was Asr. In this hadith, Ibn Sereen
forgot what Abu Hurairah had said.
The Prophet added an extra tasleem so he
did an extra sajda after the proper tasleem- this is in the case of Ziyada.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet
prayed either Asr or Zuhr. He prayed the first two
rakats and then performed tasleem. Since his personality was such that he had
reached a nearness to Allah, his inner self was not tranquil after the salaat
because he sensed his worship was not perfect.
Therefore, although he had forgotten, he felt something was wrong and he
stood looking angry and was troubled but he did not know the cause of it.
Some of the people left quickly and
started talking about it and it was as though they considered that because he
was the Prophet of Allah, he could not make a mistake or forget. So, they went away without asking him about
it. Abu Bakr and Umar were even scared to ask.
It was finally Dhul- Yaddain who asked regarding whether the prayer had
been shortened or had the Prophet forgotten? Based on what the Prophet was
aware of he said neither. But once
Dhul-Yaddain realized it was definitely not revelation to shorten the prayer
then he knew the Prophet must have forgotten.
The people confirmed what Dhul-Yaddain had said so the Prophet prayed
two more rakats and made tasleem. Then
while sitting he carried out two more prostrations and another tasleem.
1. The hadith shows the permissibility
that even the Prophets, in their actions, can err BUT Allah corrects them; He
does not allow them to remain in that error.
As for delivering the message then there is no room for error. There is consensus on this point.
2. There are many wisdoms related to this
:
i.
Clarification
of the Shariah
ii. To lighten the burden of the ummah who
will probably be forgetful
iii. Prophets are human and they may err in
their actions.
3. Going out of prayer before its
completion, thinking that it is finished, does NOT cut off the prayer completely
but when a person realizes then the person may go back and complete what they
have left off. They do not start again.
4. Speaking in salaat, unknowingly, does
NOT invalidate salaat. This hadith is the proof for it. During the course of the prayer, Dhul- Yaddain
and the prophet and the people all spoke and it did not invalidate their salaat.
5. It is correct and acceptable to compete the prayer and to build on what has already been
done even if the period is lengthy.
There is no proof for the opinion that it should be a short time period
only.
6. Some movement apart from salaat does
NOT invalidate salaat is done due to ignorance or forgetfulness.
7. It is obligatory to make two extra
prostrations for forgetfulness whether for ziyada or nuqsahn. This is to
correct eh salaat and to humiliate the Shaitan.
8. if a person makes more than one mistake then it is only
necessary to perform one set of prostrations fro forgetfulness. In this hadith the Prophet added an extra
tasleem and completes the prayer as two rakats and not four.
9. sajda sahw is performed AFTER tasleem in this hadith; if a
person made tasleem while having made some defect in the prayer. In other cases it maybe before the
tasleem. This is the madhab of Imam
Ahmad.
10. Doing Sujda Sahw at two different times
depends on the situation and this opinion combines the various evidences that
the Prophet saw made sujda before and after the tasleem as opposed to those who
say it should always be before and those who say it should always be after the
tasleem.
ORIGINAL
RULING
(except in those cases where it is specifically indicated)
The sajda sahw should be AFTER the tasleem based on the hadith of Tawbaan in
Ibn Majah that is hasan ghirihee. The
prophet said: For every forgetfulness it is required
to make two sajdas after tasleem.
11. As–Sahw of the imam is passed onto the
followers. Due to the shortcoming of the
Imams prayer, there is also a shortcoming in the Peoples’ prayer but there is
no blame on the people; however, they are required to rectify this fault.
12. There is no tashenhud after before the
tasleem in the sajda sahw. Ibn Taymiyah
said there is nothing in the sayings of the Prophet requiring the people to
make tashenhud in Sajda Sahw. If there
was, then the Companions would have mentioned it.
The basis of
those who agree with the tashenhud is the hadith of Imran, which is considered
hasan ghairib. It has only one narrator
and is not supported by other authentic hadith therefore we should not base our
position on this hadith.
Hadith 102
Abdullah ibn Buhaimah reported: The
Messenger of Allah led us in two rakat of prayer in one of the (obligatory)
prayers and then got up and did not sit and the people stood up along with
him. When he finished the prayer and we
expected him to pronounce salutation, he said ‘Allah hu Akbar” while sitting
and made two prostrations before salutation and then pronounced the final
tasleem
Muslim
In another
narration:
..the
Messenger of Allah stood up in the
Muslim
The Prophet led the Zuhr prayer and
stood up in the second rakat without doing tashenhud.
1. The obligation of making sajda sahw for
anyone who has forgotten or made a mistake in the prayer e.g. leaving out
tashenhud al awal
2. Tashenhud al awaal is NOT a rukn of the
prayer because if it was then the Prophet would have had to go back and make it
up and sajda suhw would not have sufficed.
The wajibaat are those actions that are fard but one can make them
up. The rukn are those that must be made
up and without them the salaat is not valid.
Some scholars said that the tashendhud al awaal was sunnah
and some said it was fard.
3. If anyone makes more than one mistake
then one set of sajda sahw is enough.
The proof here is that the Prophet did not sit down for tashenhud and he
did not recite it.
4. Since the Prophet agreed with the
followers who still followed him in his mistake despite being aware the imam
was making a mistake so this shows the importance of following the Imam. In another narration of this hadith it is
said that the people started saying Subhanallah Subhalallah but the Prophet had
stood up so he could not go back and sit.
5. The forgetfulness of the Imam is passed
n to the followers. The followers knew
that he had made a mistake so when they stood up they did so
intentionally. So not invalid and the
suhw was passed onto them.
6. If something is left out of the
prayer then the prostrations of forgetfulness should be performed before
the tasleem
7. The tasleem follows the prostrations
immediately without any space or time between them for du’a or anything.
The Sheikh only mentioned these hadith
so to get more information on Sajda Sahw we will study a few extra Hadith:
Narrated Abu Hurairah:
He said the Messenger of Allah said:
Verily when one of you stands up to perform his prayer, then Shaitaan will come
to him and cause confusion in his mind until he doesn’t know how much he has
prayed. So if anyone finds himself in that situation, he must pray two
prostrations while sitting.
Bukhaaree and Muslim
This general hadith shows us that the
cause for our forgetfulness is Shaitaan and the way to combat this is to make
sajda sahw.
Extra Hadith (2)
Concerning Shakk
(Doubt) in the prayer
From Ataa ibn Yasar
from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree who reported: the Messenger of Allah said: When one
of you is in doubt about the prayer and he does not know how much he has prayed,
three or four rakaah, he should cast aside his doubt and base his prayer on
what he is sure about, then perform two prostrations before giving
salutations. If he has prayed five
rakhas, they will make his prayer an even number for him and if he has prayed
exactly four rakaahs, they will be a humiliation for the devil.
Muslim
Able to determine what is more likely so
perform sujda sahw before the tasleem
Extra Hadith (3)
Abdullah ibn Masood
narrated: …when he (the Prophet) turned to face us he said: If there had been
anything changed in the prayer then surely I would have informed you but I am a
human being like you and liable to forget like you. So if I forget, remind me and if anyone of
you is doubtful about his prayer, he should follow what he thinks to be
correct and complete his prayer accordingly and finish it and then do two
prostrations of sahw.
Al Bukhaaree
Unable to determine what is most likely
to be correct so follow what you think and perform sajda sahw after the
tasleem
What the scholars said regarding this
matter:
Imam Budawi
says regarding sajda sahw:
As for the
place, before or after the tasleem, that the prostrations were performed, the
hadith concerning this reported different things.
As for
what Kudri (Extra Hadith (2)) and
Buhainah (Hadith 102) reported was that the sajdah sahw was carried out before
the tasleem.
Abu Hurairah
and Abdullah Masoods hadith (Extra Hadith (4)) where something was added, then
the prostrations are performed after the tasleem.
Based on
this, the scholars of fiqh also differed Most of the scholars such as Rabiya
held the sujda sahw should be performed before the tasleem. Imam Shafee also
held this opinion.
The second
opinion is of those who said it should be performed before the tasleem such as
Sufyan ath-Tahuri of the Hanafi Madhab and the students of Abu Hanifa held that
the sajda should be after tasleem, according to Abdullah Masood ‘s hadith.
Imam Shafee
said before and
LECTURE 20