Sajdah Sahw: The Prostration of Forgetfulness Explained
What to do when you add, miss or doubt a part of the prayer: the two prostrations of forgetfulness, when they are needed, and before or after the salam.
This guide explains common views and sources. It is not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a scholar or imam you trust.
Sajdah sahw is two extra prostrations made at the end of a prayer to repair a slip of memory. It exists because the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself once forgot in prayer, and showed his community what to do. It is not a punishment and it is not optional decoration: for certain mistakes it is required, and it keeps the prayer valid without starting again.
The hadith
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that the Prophet said: when one of you is unsure in his prayer and does not know whether he has prayed three or four, let him put away the doubt and build on what he is sure of, then prostrate twice before the salam. If he has in fact prayed five, the prostrations make the prayer even; if he has prayed four, they are a humiliation for Satan (Muslim 571). In other reports the Prophet prostrated after the salam when he had said the salam after two rak'ahs of a four-rak'ah prayer, and when he had prayed five.
When sajdah sahw is needed
| Situation | Example | Needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Adding something | an extra ruku', an extra rak'ah, sitting where you should stand | Yes |
| Missing a required-but-not-pillar part (wajib / sunnah mu'akkadah in Hanafi, ab'ad in Shafi'i) | forgetting the first tashahhud, forgetting qunut (Shafi'i), reciting aloud in a quiet prayer (Hanafi) | Yes |
| Missing a pillar | forgetting a prostration, forgetting ruku', no al-Fatiha | No; the pillar must be done. Add the missing part (or the whole rak'ah) and then prostrate for the disorder |
| Doubt about the number of rak'ahs | three or four? | Yes, after building on certainty |
| Changing the order or delaying a pillar while thinking | a long pause wondering whether you have done ruku' | Hanafi: yes; others: usually no |
| Missing a non-emphasised sunnah | forgetting the opening dua, saying "Subhana Rabbiyal-'Azim" twice instead of three times | No |
How to perform it
- After the final tashahhud and salawat, either before the salam or after it (see below), say Allahu akbar and prostrate.
- Say Subhana Rabbiyal-A'la three times, sit up with Allahu akbar, prostrate again.
- If prostrating after the salam (Hanafi): sit, repeat the tashahhud, salawat and dua, then say the salam again. If before the salam (Shafi'i, Hanbali): sit, then say the salam.
Two prostrations, nothing more. The whole correction takes about thirty seconds.
Before or after the salam?
This is a known difference between schools, with each side following reports from the Prophet.
| School | Practice |
|---|---|
| Hanafi | After one salam to the right (some say after both), then sit, tashahhud, salam again |
| Shafi'i | Before the salam, in all cases |
| Maliki | Before the salam if something was missed; after the salam if something was added; before if both |
| Hanbali | Before the salam in general; after the salam where the Prophet prostrated after it (salam before the prayer was complete; doubt resolved by strong opinion) |
| Ja'fari | After the salam, with a short tashahhud and salam after the two prostrations; for doubt in the number of rak'ahs, a separate "prayer of precaution" (salat al-ihtiyat) is prayed in certain cases |
Either placement is accepted as valid by the other schools; this is a question of what is best, not of validity.
Worked examples
Forgot the first tashahhud in Dhuhr. You stood straight up after the second rak'ah and only remembered once fully standing. Carry on; do not sit back down. Finish Dhuhr, then make sajdah sahw. (If you remembered before you had fully stood up, go back and sit; Hanafis still prostrate if you were closer to standing.)
Not sure whether you are in the second or third rak'ah of Asr. If you lean towards "second", treat it as the second: sit for the first tashahhud now, then pray two more. If you genuinely cannot decide, take two, the smaller number. Prostrate for forgetfulness at the end. Shafi'is and Hanbalis always take the smaller number; Hanafis and Malikis follow the stronger opinion if there is one.
Prayed five rak'ahs of Isha without noticing until after the salam. The prayer is valid; make the two prostrations if you are still sitting. If you noticed during the fifth rak'ah, Hanafis say: if you had sat for the final tashahhud after the fourth, the fard is complete, add a sixth to make the extra an even voluntary pair and prostrate; if you had not sat, that fard prayer must be repeated.
Prayed Isha aloud alone instead of quietly. Hanafis prostrate for reciting aloud in a quiet prayer; others see no correction needed when praying alone, since audibility is a sunnah.
When sajdah sahw is not enough
Some errors cannot be repaired by prostration and the prayer must be repeated: praying without wudu, facing the wrong direction by a large margin, forgetting al-Fatiha in every rak'ah, or deliberately doing any of the above. Deliberately skipping a wajib part also requires repeating the prayer in the Hanafi view, since sajdah sahw is for forgetfulness only.
Reducing slips
Most doubt comes from a wandering mind rather than a weak memory. Counting rak'ahs on the fingers of the right hand during the sitting, praying at a steady pace rather than racing, and clearing the mind before the opening takbir all help; see focus in salah and how to pray. If you pray behind an imam, you are also protected: the follower does not prostrate for his own slips, only with the imam (praying in congregation).
For your own situation, especially about which parts count as pillars in the school you follow, ask a scholar or imam you trust.
Useful tools
Questions and answers
I forgot whether I prayed three or four rak'ahs. What do I do?
Take the number you are more sure of, or the smaller number if you are equally unsure, complete the prayer on that basis, and make the two prostrations of forgetfulness. This is the instruction in the hadith reported by Muslim (571).
I said the salam after three rak'ahs of Isha by mistake. Is the prayer ruined?
No, as long as you have not done something that breaks the prayer, such as talking at length or leaving the mosque. Stand up, pray the missing rak'ah, sit for tashahhud, make sajdah sahw and say the salam again.
Do I need sajdah sahw if I recited the wrong surah?
No. Any surah after al-Fatiha is valid, so no correction is needed. Only al-Fatiha itself is required; missing it entirely in a rak'ah is more serious and that rak'ah is not counted in most views.
What if I forgot the prostration of forgetfulness itself?
If you remember shortly after the salam and are still in place, make the two prostrations then. If a long time has passed, the prayer is valid in the majority view; some Hanafi scholars recommend repeating it if the time has not passed.
Does the follower make sajdah sahw for his own slip behind the imam?
No. The imam's prayer covers the follower's small slips; the follower makes sajdah sahw only together with the imam, or for a rak'ah he makes up alone after the imam's salam.
Sources
- Sahih Muslim 571 (doubt in prayer: build on certainty and prostrate twice)
- Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim (the Prophet's own prostrations after forgetting in prayer)