Do I Need to Perform Sajdat al-Sahw If I Don’t Raise a Finger in Tashahhud?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

Is Sajdat al-Sahw compulsory in the following cases?

• If I forget to raise a finger in tashahhud or think I didn’t raise it
• If I don’t say bismillah before reading a sura

Answer

Raising a finger and pronouncing the basmala before the Fatiha in every rak’a is an emphasized sunna. Therefore, there is no forgetfulness prostration (sajdat al-sahw) for omitting a sunna. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.

He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.

He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.

He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.