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What must the Imam and the congregants do if the Imam deliberately stands for a fifth Rak'ah in the Dhuhr prayer, claiming that he did not recite Al-Fatihah in one of the Rak'ahs?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the Imam forgets the Fatiha in a rak'ah, that rak'ah is not counted, and he must perform another one, because the Fatiha is a pillar (rukn) according to the majority of scholars. As for the congregant (ma'mum), he should not follow the Imam if the latter stands for a fifth rak'ah. Instead, he should sit for the tashahhud and wait to make the salutation with the Imam, because the congregant's prayer is already complete.

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

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