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What is the ruling on the prayer of one who performs the prostration of forgetfulness for a reason that does not necessitate it, such as an error in recitation, and does the prayer become void by intentionally omitting the prostration of forgetfulness?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a worshiper makes a mistake in reciting Al-Fatihah that alters the meaning, and then corrects it, the prostration of forgetfulness (sujood as-sahw) is appropriate; because some jurists deem it obligatory in this case, and because a linguistic error (lahn) that alters the meaning, whether made out of forgetfulness or ignorance, necessitates sujood as-sahw to compensate for the deficiency. If there is no reason for sujood as-sahw, but it is performed out of ignorance, the prayer is not invalidated. However, intentionally omitting sujood as-sahw is a matter of scholarly disagreement.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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