Is the prostration of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw) obligatory if the worshipper does not know how many rak'ahs he has prayed, and does it include the tashahhud? And is the prayer valid if the worshipper recites a surah with the Fatihah in the last two rak'ahs of a four-rak'ah prayer?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
One who doubts in his prayer and does not know how many rak'ahs he has performed, should seek refuge with Allah from Satan and spit (lightly blow) to his left three times. Then, he should build upon the minimum (what he is certain of), complete his prayer, and perform two prostrations of forgetfulness ( as-sahw) before the salutation (). As for reciting a with Al-Fatihah in the last two rak'ahs of a four-rak'ah prayer and the third rak'ah of Maghrib prayer, it is preferable to omit it and suffice with Al-Fatihah only.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/42735
Where this answer came from
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 42735
- 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