Do I Need To Redo Prayers in Which I Made the Prostration of Forgetfulness Unnecessarily?
Question:
Do I need to redo prayers in which I made the prostration of forgetfulness unnecessarily?
Answer:
Walaikum assalam,
I hope you are doing well, insha’Allah. Alhamdulillah that your misgivings (waswasa) have diminished. No, what you mentioned does not require making up those prayers.
Remember the Divine Promise that, “We have placed no hardship for you in religion.” [Qur’an, 22:78]
And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Truly, this religion is ease, and no one will make religion difficult except that it will overwhelm them. So remain committed; do you best; and be of glad tidings.” [Bukhari]
The great Hanafi jurist, Imam Sarakhsi said, “The only way to deal with misgivings is to ignore them and to pray no attention whatsoever to them.” [Sarakhsi, al-Mabsut]
While doing forgetfulness prostrations (sujud al-sahw) when not required is an error, it does not invalidate those past prayers. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]
Please refer to this reader on misgivings (waswasa):
https://seekers.flywheelstaging.com/answers/general-counsel/a-reader-on-waswasa-baseless-misgivings/
And take one of our courses in the Islamic Studies Curriculum on the fiqh of worship:
https://seekers.flywheelstaging.com/courses/absolute-essentials-of-islam-hanafi-getting-started-with-your-belief-and-practice/
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.
