What Should You Do If You Say the Tasahhud but Then Notice You Forgot the Rak’a?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

What to do if you say the Tasahhud but then realize you forgot the unit of prayer (rak‘a)?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

If you realize you forgot a unit of prayer (rak‘a) while in the Tashahhud, you will stand up, complete the missing rak‘a/s, and then return to the final sitting position. [Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]

In the final sitting, one will recite the Tashahhud, make one Salam to the right, prostrate twice for forgetfulness, return to the sitting position, recite the Tashahhud again, and finish the prayer as normal. [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.