What Happens If the Imam Stands Up for the Fifth Cycle (Rak‘a)?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question

[1] When you are praying behind an imam and he makes a mistake such as praying five raka‘at for dhuhr, and one says something like subhan Allah but the imam keeps on with the mistake, should one follow him or pray correctly.

[2] My other question is should one make sajdit assahu if the imam makes this sajda? Or only if you make a mistake?

Answer

I hope you are in the best of health and spirits, insha’Allah.

[1] If the imam stands up for the fifth cycle (rak‘a) of the noon (dhuhr) prayer, the followers should remain seated and correct him by saying the tasbih (subhanAllah).

If the imam prostrates for the fifth cycle (rak‘a), there are two cases:

[a] If he sat for the extent of the tashahhud in the final sitting (qa‘da), you would say the salams and finish your prayer,

[b] If he did not sit for the extent of the tashahud in the final sitting (qa‘da) or did not do the final sitting altogether, the prayer of the imam and the followers would be invalidated. Thus, they would all need to repeat their prayer.

[2] If the imam performs the prostration of forgetfulness (sahw), the follower does so too as he is following the imam. However, if the follower makes a mistake requiring the prostration of forgetfulness (sahw), he does not prostrate.

[Haskafi, al-Durr al-Mukhtar; Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Shurunbulali, Imdad al-Fattah]

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam,

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorized the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan, and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.