Chapter Three
Shortcomings/Lapses in Prayer
Al-Khalal in Assalat
What is meant by shortcomings/lapses is anything that results in affecting the form and requirements of the prayer as commanded in the Shari‘ah. We shall explain this in three parts:
a- Things that invalidate the prayer (monafiyat), which are the things that, according to the Shari‘ah, render the prayer void.
b- Shortcomings (khalal): this is when the prayer lacks some of its parts and conditions/requirements.
c- Doubts (shekk): when doubts occur over the performance of the prayer, the number of rak‘ahs etc.
(A) Things that invalidate the prayer (monafiyat)
451. Each one of the shortcomings that we are going to mention is enough reason to render the prayer void:
First: Any act that separates the person from the commonly-accepted image of a person praying, such as knitting, taking off and putting on several dresses, breastfeeding while praying, eating and drinking (but not swallowing food residues in the mouth) and so on. Regardless of whether such acts are done intentionally or out of absentmindedness, they will render the prayer void.
However, things that do not nullify the image of the prayer, such as walking several steps, tidying the clothes on the body, pointing with the hand, moving the fingers and the like, do not render the prayer void. That said, these do not conform to stability (itmi’nan).
Second: Laughing, knowingly, loudly and with sound (qahqahah), even if it is uncontrollable. However, this does not include smiling, or what occurs unconsciously.
Third: Crying knowingly for a worldly matter, as an obligatory precaution, including if it is uncontrollable; however, the prayer will still be valid if this takes place unconsciously. The crying in question is one involving tears, even if it does not involve sound.
Fourth: Tekfir, which is putting one hand over the other, and resting them on the lower part of the abdomen, which renders the prayer void as an obligatory precaution if the person believes it is part of the prayer; but if he does not do that as a part of the prayer, in this case it is more probable that the prayer remains valid. In any case, the prayer remains valid if this act takes place unconsciously.
Fifth: Saying ‘Ameen’ after the Fatihah chapter intentionally, as an obligatory precaution if the person believes it is part of the prayer, otherwise it remains valid.
Sixth: Speaking intentionally, even if without comprehensible meaning, with no differentiation, if intentional, between speaking that takes place with the person’s own will or otherwise (i.e. is forced upon him), nor whether the speech is to a second person or not. However, if speaking takes place through absentmindedness, it stays valid. Also, there is no problem about hemming (clearing one’s throat), blowing or moaning, nor if the speech consists of the thikr of God, supplication, verses of the Qur’an that are more than what is part of them.
452. It is obligatory that the person praying returns the greeting during the prayer, but using the same form/words as the ones used by the person greeting, so if the latter said ‘Salamon ’alaykom’, the person praying must reply with exactly the same words including the order, so he is not allowed to reply by ‘’Alaykom as-Salam’ (unless, of course, the greeting was originally that). And it is not obligatory to use or not use the alif and lam, i.e. ‘al’, whether they were used by the greeting person or not.
That said, if the greeting was directed to a group of people of whom the person praying is one, he is not allowed to reply when praying unless no one else replies.
(B) Additions and omissions in prayer
This is what is covered by the term ‘khalal’: shortcomings, which may take place intentionally or out of absentmindedness. When they are intentional, there is a universal rule: ‘Every time the person praying ignores his duty by omitting any of the parts or conditions of the prayer intentionally and knowing that that is a part or condition of the prayer, his prayer becomes void; the same applies if he added anything to his prayer intentionally and realizing that it is not allowed.’
However, such things may happen without intention or knowledge, the details of which are:
First: The cases in which the prayer becomes void
453. The prayer becomes void in the following cases:
1- If he omitted bowing in a certain rak‘ah before (until) he prostrated the second prostration.
2- If he omitted both prostrations from a rak‘ah before (until) he performed the bowing of the following rak‘ah.
3- If he prayed without ablution or washing or teyemmom – according to his duty – or if something took place during prayer which made the ablution of washing void.
4- If he performed acts that resulted in nullifying the image of prayer.
5- If he prayed with an impurity – one that is not accepted in prayer – out of forgetfulness.
6- If he prayed with the qibleh to his right or left or back when he believed that it was in front of him and then he found out when the allocated time for that prayer had still not elapsed (see Chapter One (D)).
7- If he prayed before the start of the allocated time because of ignorance of the time, or through lack of awareness of it, or believing that the time had started; also in other cases (see Chapter One (A)).
8- If he added a full rak‘ah out of absentmindedness, or omitted one; in the latter case, he can remedy the situation if he realises this before teslīm, or after it before doing any of the acts that invalidate the prayer, so his prayer will remain valid.
Second: The cases in which the prayer does not become void
These are two types: the cases in which the shortcoming can be remedied, and the cases in which the prayer remains valid even with that shortcoming.
1- Shortcomings/lapses that should be remedied:
454. The person praying must remedy the situation by performing the missed parts in the following situations:
a- If he missed the tekbīreh of iram out of absentmindedness or ignorance then realised before bowing, in this case he must perform tekbīr then start the recital again.
b- If he missed part of the recital or thikr then realised before bowing in that rak‘ah, here he must perform what he missed and continue his prayer.
c- If he missed the bowing then realised before the second prostration of that rak‘ah, here he must stand up to perform the bowing, then continue his prayer as normal.
d- If he missed two prostrations in a certain rak‘ah, or one prostration, then he realised before the bowing of the following rak‘ah, he must go down to prostrate then perform what should come after that (prostrating) as normal.
e- If he missed the teshehhod in (after) the second rak‘ah and realised before bowing (in the following/third rak‘ah), he must sit and perform it, then perform what comes after it.
f- If he missed two prostrations, teshehhod or teslīm, in the last rak‘ah and realised before a adeth, aghar or akbar, takes place, or before the prayer image evaporates, he must perform what he missed and what comes after it.
In addition, he must perform the two sehw prostrations in some of the above situations, as will be explained later.
2- Shortcomings which are not obligatory to remedy if they have taken place out of forgetfulness or ignorance of the ruling:
455. It is not obligatory that the person praying remedy the parts missed in the following situations:
a- If he missed the recital or thikr, or part of them, and did not realise until after bowing.
b- If he missed the thikr in a bowing or prostrating and did not realise until after leaving that position.
c- If he missed the second prostration, in any rak‘ah, or the teshehhod, or part of it, after the second rak‘ah and did not realise until after he started the following (third) rak‘ah, here he must perform what he missed as qea’ after the prayer.
d- If he missed the second prostration of the last rak‘ah, the teshehhod or the teslīm, and did not realise until after the elapse of a long time when the prayer image no longer held, in this case he must perform what he missed as qea’ after the prayer.
e- If he missed the standing when reciting and recited sitting, then realised after he had finished the recital, in this case he should continue his prayer as normal and no remedy is necessary.
f- If he recited loudly (in an audible voice) when the prayer should have been performed whispering, or the opposite, in this case he should continue the recital as appropriate without any consequence. The same applies if he failed to achieve the state of stability when he was reciting the thikr in the bowing or prostrating.
g- If, during prostrating, he, out of absentmindedness, did not cover one of the prostrating spots – other than that of the forehead – on the ground and realised after he lifted his head from it, in this case he should continue his prayer without any consequence.
(C) The doubt (shekk) rulings
To begin with, we have to differentiate between three terms: shekk, dhenn and imi’nan.
Shekk (doubt): When, to the person, the probabilities that the act has been performed or has not, are equal.
Dhenn (probable belief): When one of the two probabilities becomes, to him, stronger than the other.
Imi’nan (satisfaction): When one of the two probabilities becomes, to him, so highly likely that it is almost certain that he/she can (almost) be completely satisfied with it.
As for imi’nan, there is no problem in annexing it to certainty and knowledge as far as the consequences for prayer and other acts are concerned. Thus, if the person is satisfied that he has performed the act in question in the correct manner, or he is satisfied that he is in the second raka’h or the prayer, for example, he should depend on this satisfaction and continue his prayer on that basis.
It is more probable to annex dhenn to knowledge and satisfaction when it comes to acting according to it, with the consequence following the more probable probability, whether that probability is thinking that the act in question was performed or was not; this applies whether the dhenn is in the number or raka’hs performed or the acts of the prayer. So, if the dhenn is that he is in the second raka’h, for example, he should regard it as such, and if the dhenn is that he has prostrated two prostrations, he should regard it as such, and so on, acting in response to the dhenn as he does with certainty and imi’nan (satisfaction).
The doubt (shekk), however, can fall into two categories: doubt in the acts and doubt in the number of raka’hs. With the latter, some render the prayer void, whilst others do not. All that will be explained here but after discussing some related matters.
456. If the state of the person changed from shekk to dhenn, or the opposite, he must act according to the second state.
457. The rulings of doubt that will be mentioned here cover normal doubting, so they do not cover the over-doubting person (kethīr ash-Shekk), which will be explained now. The over-doubting person is one for whom doubt in a certain act, or in every act, is repeated from him in a way that is more than normal; the criterion here is that the person doubts once in every three prayers; in the case of the hypochondriac (wiswasī) who is overwhelmed by doubts until it becomes a health problem, doubts control the mind so that the person cannot be certain of anything, or cannot be certain even of a certain thing; the ruling regarding these persons is that they should act according to the state in which their performance is regarded as correct/acceptable. Therefore, the over-doubting person who doubts whether he/she has prayed or not, should regard himself/herself as having prayed, and the over-doubting person who doubts the number of rak‘ahs, should regard himself/herself as having performed the higher number, unless the higher number invalidates the prayer, in which case he/she should regard himself/herself as having performed the lower number; and whoever doubts a lot whether he has bowed or not, should regard it as performed, and so on.
458. The over-doubting person is not allowed to make mention of his doubt, so if he disobeys and does make mention of his doubt about performing what he doubts, his prayer will still be valid if the doubted act was performed with the intention of qorbeh, although he has sinned by going along with his doubt, regardless to whether the doubted act was a rokn, such as bowing, or not a rokn, such as reciting.
459. If he doubts whether he is an over-doubting person or not, he should decide that he is not; and if he was an over-doubting person and doubted whether this state has disappeared, he should regard it still existing, so abide by the rulings for the over-doubting person.
First: Doubts in acts
460. Every time the person praying doubts whether he has performed one of the prayer duties – whether a rokn or otherwise – he should regard it as not performed and he should act accordingly.
The exceptions to this rule are the following cases:
1- If he doubts one of the prayer parts after leaving its allocated place (in the order of the prayer) and beginning the part that follows, even if this next part is recommended, in this case he should continue and disregard his doubt, such as when doubting the tekbīreh of iram while he is reciting the Fatiah, or doubting the Fatiah while he is bowing, or doubting the recital while he is in the qonūt, or doubting the bowing while he is prostrating; in all these and the similar situations, he can regard what he doubts as performed and continue his prayer without any consequences. However, if he has already passed the act he has been doing and started the act that follows, such as if he doubted the recital while bowing for rukoo’, or if he doubted the sejdeh while he was rising to stand up, in this case it is precautionary to acknowledge this doubt and to perform the doubted act in an undesignated/unspecific intent (niyyeh molaqeh).
2- If he doubts the correctness of the part after he has performed it and finished it, the ruling here is the correctness in any case, whether he has left the place or not. So, if he did tekbīreh of iram but doubted its correctness, he should regard it as correct even if he has not started the recital yet; the same when doubting the correctness of the thikr of bowing or prostrating after finishing it.
3- If he started the prayer with its conditions present, then doubts that these conditions still existed, or have been disturbed, during his prayers, such as if he started his prayer facing the qibleh then fears that he might have turned from it in some previous parts, in this case he should continue his prayer, disregarding his doubt.
461. If, after applying the above ruling, he discovers that indeed he did not perform the doubted part, in this case he should apply the rulings explained in the additions and omissions (khalal), applying the appropriate ruling to his case (see Things that invalidate the prayer (B)).
Second: Doubting the number of rak‘ahs
What is meant here is the doubt that arises during praying, since there is no consequence if the doubt takes place after finishing it. This kind of doubt has many types: sometimes it renders the prayer void while in other cases it does not, and in the latter there are doubts which can be remedied while others cannot; so there are three types:
First: Doubts that have no consequences
462. Doubts that have no consequences are those doubts that, if they take place, do not invalidate the prayer, nor do they require a (remedial) act from the person praying; this may be:
a- When the person praying finds himself reciting teshehhod but he doubts whether he completed the second raka’h and that this teshehhod is for (after) it, or that he did not finish it and he was in the first raka’h, the teshehhod would, then, be because of his lack of awareness; in this case he should regard himself as in the second raka’h and complete his prayer.
b- When he finds himself reciting teshehhod in a 4-raka’h prayer, or has just finished it, but he is certain that he has proceeded beyond the second raka’h but doubts whether he finished the fourth, or if he is still in the third raka’h and that the teshehhod is due to his lack of awareness; in this case he regards himself as having finished the fourth and finishes his prayer without any consequence.
c- When he is performing teslīm in a 3-raka’h prayer, but doubts whether he finished the third raka’h, and so his teslīm is the required one, or if he was still in the second raka’h and this teslīm is performed out of lack of awareness; in this case he should regard it as the third raka’h and finish his teslīm with no consequences.
Second: Doubts that require a remedy
463. No prayer becomes void out of doubt in the number of raka’h - in a 4-raka’h prayer in particular - if the doubt is in the form of one of the following nine situations and the person praying remedies it as appropriate:
1- Doubt between two and three raka’hs, provided that the doubt takes place after finishing the thikr of the second prostration; in this case he should regard it as the third, finish his prayer then perform the itiya (precautionary additional) prayer, which is one raka’h performed standing as an obligatory precaution when he is able to stand, or one raka’h performed sitting if he is unable to stand.
2- Doubt between three and four raka’hs in any place; in this case he should regard it as four, finish his prayer then perform the itiya prayer, either one raka’h standing or two raka’hs sitting, but if he is unable to stand, one raka’h sitting.
3- Doubt between two and four raka’hs, provided that the doubt takes place after finishing the thikr in the second prostration; in this case he should regard it as four, finish his prayer, then perform two raka’hs standing, and for whoever is unable to stand, two raka’hs sitting.
4- Doubt between two, three or four raka’hs after finishing the thikr of the second prostration; in this case he should regard it as four, (finish his prayer) then perform (itiya prayer which consists of) two raka’h standing then two raka’hs sitting; whoever is unable to stand should perform two raka’hs sitting then one raka’h sitting.
5- Doubt between four and five raka’hs after the thikr of the second prostration; he should regard it as four, finish his prayer then perform two sehw prostrations.
6- Doubt between four and five when in a standing position; in this case he goes down to sit regarding himself to be in the fourth raka’h, perform teshehhod and teslīm, then perform one raka’h standing or two raka’hs sitting.
7- Doubt between three and five raka’hs when in a standing position; in this case he cancels his standing, turning his doubt into a doubt between two and four raka’hs, applying the ruling in (3) above.
8- Doubt between three, four and five raka’hs when in a standing position; in this case he cancels his standing, turning his doubt into a doubt between two, three and four raka’hs and applies its ruling ( in (4) above).
9- Doubt between five and six when in the standing position; in this case he cancels his standing and sits down, regarding himself to be in the fourth, finishes his prayer then performs two sehw prostrations.
464. It must be noted that when dealing with one of the above doubt situations, the following cases are exceptions to the rulings above as explained herewith:
First: If the doubting person thought that one probability is stronger than the rest, which is dhenn (probable belief), he must act according to this dhenn; so if the person praying thought that it was more probable that he was in the third or fourth or second rak‘ah, for example, he should follow his belief exactly as he would do when he is certain about the number or rak‘ahs, and there is no consequence, and so no remedy applies.
Second: If the person doubts to an abnormal extent that would commonly be described as kethīr ash-Shekk, i.e. an over-doubting person, such as if he normally doubts at least once in every successive prayers, or twice in every six successive prayers, and so on; in this case, he should cancel his doubt and assume that he has performed the number about which his doubts have confused him, i.e. he should regard himself as having performed the higher number of rak‘ahs; so if he doubted whether he had performed two or three, he should regard it as three; or three or four, he should regard it as four; he should finish his prayer in both cases, or other doubting cases, without any consequence or remedy required; this is unless the higher number would invalidate the prayer, in which case he should regard it as the smaller number and finish his prayer without remedy; for example, if he doubted between four and five rak‘ahs, then he should regard it as four, since if he regards them as five the prayer would become void.
Third: If the doubt in the number or rak‘ahs assails the leader (imam) or the follower and the former or the latter was certain about the number of rak‘ahs, the doubting of them should depend on the other’s memory, and whether his memory was at the level of certainty or dhenn – this will be explained later.
Fourth: If the person praying is offering a nafileh prayer and he becomes doubtful regarding the number of rak‘ahs, in this case it is up to him to regard it as the least probable number and finish his prayer without any consequences, or to regard it as the most probable number, provided that it does not invalidate the prayer, and finish his prayer without consequences.
465. It is not allowed for the person praying, as an obligatory precaution, to abstain from the remedy mentioned above when his doubt is similar to the above nine situations, and to opt to stop his prayer and start it anew; so if he was ignorant of the suitable remedy to the doubt that took place, he should follow what he thinks probable as a remedy to his situation, then should check after the prayer to see if what he did was the right remedy or not; if not he should then repeat his prayer.
466. When, to remedy the doubt, the standing has to be cancelled, he must, as an obligatory precaution, perform two sehw prostrations for the additional standing, but after finishing the remedial act(s) which is the itiya prayer or sehw prostrations.
Third: Doubts that invalidate the prayer (without any suitable remedy)
467. In this third type, we explain the situations which, when doubt takes place, it renders the prayer void; these are the cases that can be described as: ‘Every case other than the cases that we mentioned earlier in which the prayer stays valid, whether with or without remedy, falls in this type in which the prayer becomes void.’ To explain, let’s describe the following cases:
First: When the doubt of the person praying is not about the particular numbers of rak‘ahs, rather he does not know in which rak‘ah he is and without having a certain number that he may proceed from to remedy the doubt; in this case he has no choice but to stop the prayer and start again.
Second: When his doubt takes place when praying a daily prayer other than the 4-rak‘ah prayers, such as if his doubt is between two and three rak‘ahs in the sunset prayer or the first and the second in the dawn prayer, or other situations.
Third: When the person praying ponders the number of rak‘ahs in a 4 rak‘ah prayer without being sure that the second rak‘ah has been completed and is correct, which takes place – as explained before – after finishing the thikr of the second prostration of this second rak‘ah, such as if the doubt takes place after he lifts his head from the second prostration and he does not know whether this has been the first or the second rak‘ah, or if the doubt takes place after lifting his head from the first prostration, not the second, whether that rak‘ah he is performing is the second or third, his prayer becomes void, because he is not certain that he has performed a complete second rak‘ah. This is why it is a condition that the doubt in some situations takes place after finishing the thikr of the second rak‘ah.
Finally: Doubt rulings in the Friday prayer
468. All the rulings for the doubts in the number or rak‘ahs explained above relate to prayers other than the Friday prayer; as for the Friday prayer, if the imam doubts the number of rak‘ahs, he must turn to a follower who does remember, whether this follower is righteous or otherwise, male or female. The same applies if the follower doubts; in this case he turns to the imam who remembers. If one of them is in a dhenn state of mind, the other becomes like a remembering person to whom the doubting person turns.
469. It may happen that some of the followers remember and the others doubt; in this case the imam turns to the part that remembers; however, the doubting follower cannot, then, turn to the imam, but has to act according to his doubt, unless the turning of the imam to the remembering follower(s) turns his doubt into dhenn, in which case the doubting followers may turn to him.
470. Just as the imam and the follower turns to each other concerning the number of rak‘ahs, the doubting one of them turns to the remembering one in the acts as well. So if the follower who did not fail to follow the imam in the prayer doubts whether he has performed one or two prostrations, he is allowed to turn to the remembering imam in this; but if he thought probable his failure to follow the imam in prostrating, then he is not allowed to follow the imam in this, but must decide on the lower number and perform another prostration; and so on in other possible situations.
Third: The itiya (precautionary additional) prayer
This is the prayer that must be offered to remedy the doubt as explained in the doubting situations above, so as to remedy the doubt and the probable shortfall in the number of rak‘ahs. Its rulings are as follows:
471. It is conditional in the itiya prayer that all the conditions of the prayer, such as facing the qibleh, purity, cover etc, are present; when these are present, the person praying should offer it in the following way:
He sets in his intention and recites the tekbīr ‘Allaho akbar’, then recites the Fatiah chapter without another chapter, whispering when reciting, including the besmeleh, as an obligatory precaution, then performs rokū’, followed by two prostrations, then teshehhod and teslīm; this is if it is one rak‘ah. If they are two rak‘ahs, he performs the teshehhod and teslīm in (after) the second rak‘ah. There is no athan, iqameh or qonūt.
472. It seems that this prayer must be offered immediately after the prayer, and before doing any monafiyat (acts that invalidate prayers); thus it is not allowed to do any of the monafiyat with the intention of repeating the prayer; however, if such acts did take place out of choice or otherwise (forced), the person praying must repeat the prayer without the itiya prayer.
473. If his doubt disappears and he believes that his prayer is complete and correct, then if this took place before the itiya prayer, he does not need to offer it; but if it was during it, he is allowed to either stop it or to continue with the intention of a 2-rak‘ah nafileh.
474. All rulings regarding the additions and omissions through inattentiveness and the doubts in the acts in the obligatory prayers apply in the itiya prayer; the itiya prayer does not become void when doubt takes place regarding the number of rak‘ahs, but the person praying should decide on the higher number unless it would invalidate it, in which case he should decide on the lower number, and his prayer is valid without the need for another itiya prayer for the doubt in the (original) itiya prayer.
475. If the person praying forgets a rokn in the itiya prayer and cannot perform it, or if he added a rokn or a rak‘ah, the prayer becomes void and he must repeat the original obligatory prayer.
476. If he doubts whether he did perform the itiya prayer, he should regard it as unperformed unless this was after the elapse of the time of the prayer, or after he did something that would invalidate the prayer, whether intentionally or through lack of awareness; he should disregard his doubt and regard himself as having performed it.
Finally: Sojūd as-Sehw
This is the sehw prostrating, which consists of two prostrations, performed in a certain manner, to remedy some cases of shortcomings in the prayer. Although it is called ‘sehw prostrating’, i.e. 'lack of awareness' prostrating, it is also a remedy for some cases of doubt. The rulings for this prostrating are as follows:
477. This prostrating is not obligatory in every sehw case that has been cited before; rather most of the sehw cases do not need this prostrating, except the following situations:
First: For the person who speaks during prayer through lack of awareness, imagining that he has finished praying or that he is not in a prayer at all. Prostrating is not obligatory for monafiyat other than speaking, such as laughing or crying through lack of awareness. And if the person praying wanted to recite a certain thikr or verse but his tongue went to another, or if he uttered some of its words wrongly, there is no obligation for a sehw prostrating.
Second: When there is doubt that the number of rak‘ahs the person is in is four or five after finishing the thikr of the last prostration, and when doubting between five and six rak‘ahs while standing, as mentioned previously.
Third: If he omitted one prostration as an obligatory precaution, or if he omitted the teshehhod, wholly or partly, or the non-rokn standing as an obligatory precaution, such as if he went down to prostrate after finishing the thikr of rokū’ without (first) raising his head up, and all this provided that the place of remedying has been left; so if he performs the omitted part, his prayer will be valid without any consequences.
Fourth: If he added to his prayer the teslīm, wholly or partially, one word or part of a word from it, also if he added standing as an obligatory precaution, such as if he stood up to recite the tesbī and remembered that he had not performed the teshehhod, in this case he should cancel his standing, perform teshehhod, then stand up to recite the thikr, so he had added one standing. The sehw prostrating is not obligatory when adding parts of prayer other than these two. That said, it is better not to a keep to these situations only, i.e. to perform the sehw prostrating for every addition or omission.
478. The sehw prostrating consists of two prostrations, a teshehhod and a teslīm, and the niyyeh of qorbeh is obligatory, but it is not obligatory to specify the reason. Also, the person must secure the prostrating state by placing the forehead on what is suitable/allowed for prostrating and placing the six (other) prostrating spots, but neither facing the qibleh, nor purity from adeth and khebeth or cover or any other prayer conditions, are obligatory, although it is better to observe them.
The best form of this prostrating is:
After the person praying finishes the teshehhod and teslīm of his prayer in which sehw (unawareness) took place, he stays sitting facing the qibleh, sets in his intention of sehw prostrating as compliance (qorbeh) to God, then performs tekbīr as a recommended act, then goes down for the first prostration, reciting in it the thikr specific for the sehw prostrating, then lifts his head to sit stably, then goes down again for the second prostration with the thikr, then lifts his head to sit stably, performs the teshehhod and teslīm, completing this prostrating.
479. Thikr is obligatory during prostrating, and it must include the thikr of God, also of His prophet (sawa) as an obligatory precaution; the person has the choice of these two forms:
a- ‘Bismil-Lah wa bil-Lah, as-Salamo ‘alayka ayyohan-Nabiyyo wa ramatol-Lahi wa berekatoh’, or ‘Bismil-Lah wa bil-Lah was-Salamo…’ i.e. adding ‘wa’ (= and) before the word ‘as-Salamo’.
(In the name of God and by God, peace be upon you O you the Prophet and God’s mercy and His blessings.)
b- ‘Bismil-Lah wa bil-Lah, wa ella-Llaho ‘al a Moammedin wa ali Moammed’.
(In the name of God and by God, and God’s prayers upon Moammed and the progeny of Moammed.)
The first form is better.
480. It is obligatory to perform the sehw prostrating after the prayer immediately, and before doing any of the acts that would invalidate the prayer, but failure to do this does not affect the correctness of the prayer, although the person would have sinned if he did that intentionally, in which case he must carry it out immediately when he remembers or feels regret or the disappearance of any obstacle if was present.
And if he has to perform sehw prostrating, itiya prayer and qea’ of a forgotten part, he must perform the itiya prayer before anything else, then the qea’ of the forgotten part, then the sehw prostrating.
481. The sehw prostrating has to be repeated if the reason is repeated, but things like speaking with many sentences or several words in one sehw is regarded as one; the same when through lack of awareness he performed teslīm in the three forms in one go; in these two cases only one sehw prostrating is obligatory. However, if he spoke one sentence or word then remembered, then again one word or a sentence, he must perform the prostrating twice; and so on.
But the order of the sehw prostrating does not need to follow the order of the reasons, especially given that it is not obligatory to specify the reason when setting the intention, as was mentioned earlier.
482. If he has doubts about carrying out an act that needs a sehw prostrating, he should disregard it; and if he has doubts about the number of sehw prostrating, he should decide on the lower number; and if he has doubts about performing it after recognising that it is obligatory, he should – as a precaution – perform it, even if his doubt takes place after the time for a non-delayed act has gone; and if he believed that he had carried out the obligation, but after the teslīm he doubts it, he should disregard it and must perform the sehw prostrating; and if he doubts the obligation then after that realises it, he must carry it out, as mentioned; and if he knows that he has performed one prostration of the two sehw prostrations but doubts whether he has performed the second, he should perform it, unless if he is already in the teshehhod, and if he knows that he has performed two prostrations but fears that he has added a third one, he should disregard his doubt, but if he later realises that he did perform three, he should repeat the two sehw prostrations as a precaution; and if he forgot one prostration, in this case if he can carry it out before a long gap has elapsed, he should do that, otherwise he should perform the two sehw prostrations again.