[Sharh Muwatta Imam Malik – Shaikh Zubair Ali Zai] – Hadith No.24 –:– What Should the Person do if he Forgets in the Prayer

Itihaf ul-Basim Fi Tahqiq Muwatta al-Imam Malik [Talkhis al-Qabisi] Riwayah Abdur Rahman ibn al-Qasim

Tahqiq, Takhrij, Sharh

Muhadith Zubair Ali Zai

Translated Abu Ubaydah

Translated, Checked & Additional Notes

Abu Hibban & Abu Khuzaimah Ansaari

What Should the Person do if he Forgets in the Prayer

[24] And with the same chain of narration that the Messenger of Allah (Sallalahu Alayhi Was-Sallam) said, “When you stand in prayer, Shaytan comes to you and confuses you until you do not know how much you have prayed. If you find that happening perform two sajdas (at the end of the last tashahud) from the sitting position.”

[GRADING] – [SAHIH]

Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri clarified hearing (this hadith from Abu Salamah Ibn Abd ar-Rahman) in Humaydi (with my Tahqiq (verification): (no.953), A’zami edition: (no.947)

[REFERENCES] – [AGREED UPON]

Al-Muwatta (narration of Yahya 1/100 hadith no.220, book 4, chapter 1, hadith no.1) at-Tamhid (7/89), al-Istidhkar: (no.193)    

Transmitted by Bukhari (no.1232) and Muslim (82/389) after the hadith (no.569) from the hadith of Malik.

[UNDERSTANDING FROM THE HADITH]

1) Khanzab is the name of the shaytan who puts waswasa (whisperings) in the hearts of those who are performing prayer. (Sahih Muslim: (68/ 2203). In a mawdhu (fabricated) narration in Guniyah ut-Talibin the word “hadith” has been cited regarding Shaytan which is an error of the scribe.

2) Sajdah Sahu (prostration of forgetfulness) is wajib and Sunnah when a mistake is done in prayer. The Messenger of Allah (Sallalahu Alayhi Was-Sallam) said, “For each forgetfulness there are two prostrations after giving the salutation.” (Sunan Abu Dawud: (no.1038), and its chain is [Hasan] good)

Note: When putting into consideration other proofs, doing the two sajdas before the salam is also allowed and doing it after the salam.

3) The Imam of the Shias, Ibn Babawayah al-Qumi wrote, “May Allah’s curse be upon the extremists and mufawidah (ie the rafidah), they deny that the Prophet (Sallalahu Alayhi Was-Sallam) forgot (doing the sajdah sahu)….the reason why Allah made the Prophet (Sallalahu Alayhi Was-Sallam) forget, is so that people know he is a human being and do not end up making him a Rab and divine (i.e. object of worship), and secondly so that the people know about the ruling (issue) of sahu. (Man La Yahdhar al-Fiqhiyah (vol.1 pg.234)

4) It is not established from any hadith that the sajda sahu is performed only after the first salutation i.e. salam. It is written in Fatawa Alamghiri without any proof: “The correct view is that the salutation is done to one side and this is the madhab of the majority” (1/125) . Attributing this to the majority is rejected because it goes against the event (mentioned in the hadith) and it does not contain any reference (or any further information to prove this).