Is the prostration of forgetfulness obligatory for one who repeats a verse in prayer for verification or out of doubt? What is the ruling on previous prayers in which he did not perform the prostration of forgetfulness? Is there a difference between one who did not grasp the meaning and one who repeated it out of doubt or for verification? Does the ruling apply to one afflicted by obsessive doubts (al-waswās)? And when should the prostration of forgetfulness be performed?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
Repeating Al-Fatiha or parts of it to correct a mistake is permissible and does not require a prostration of forgetfulness ( al-sahw) unless the grammatical error (lahn) alters the meaning. A person afflicted with obsessive thoughts (mwaswas) is not required to perform sujud al-sahw if they repeat Al-Fatiha due to their obsessions, and they should not succumb to them. Sujud al-sahw can be performed before or after the salutation (). For someone who repeated Al-Fatiha, it is better for their prostration to be after the salutation because it results from an addition to the prayer.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/11233
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 11233
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy