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What is the ruling on the prayer of one who said during rukūʿ, "Subḥānaka Rabbī al-ʿAẓīm" (Glory be to You, my Lord, the Most Great), instead of "Subḥāna Rabbī al-ʿAẓīm" (Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great), and during sujud, "Subḥānaka Rabbī al-Aʿlā" (Glory be to You, my Lord, the Most High), instead of "Subḥāna Rabbī al-Aʿlā" (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High), assuming what he was saying was correct, and knowing that he had been saying it for a long time?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The majority of scholars hold that the tasbih (glorification) in bowing (ruku') and prostration (sujud) is recommended, and therefore, the prayer is not invalidated by omitting it. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is of the view that what is obligatory is the act of tasbih itself. As for the Hanbalis, they consider it obligatory to say "Subhana Rabbiyal-Azim" (Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great) in bowing and "Subhana Rabbiyal-Ala" (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High) in prostration, and nothing else suffices. However, the prayer remains valid even if the worshiper did not perform the obligatory act out of ignorance, because the prayer of one who is ignorant of an obligation is not invalidated by its omission. Therefore, your previous prayers are valid and do not need to be repeated. Nevertheless, you should adhere to the prescribed wording in the future.

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

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