Doubts in the number of Rak’ahs

Question:

Sometimes when I am performing my Salah, I forget the number of rak’ahs that I have already performed, e.g. whether I performed 3 or 4. What shall I do in such an instance?

Answer:

الجواب باسم ملهم الصواب

• When a person is unsure in his Salah regarding the number of rak’ahs he has performed, there can be one of the following three scenarios:

1. 1. It is the first time in the person’s life (that he is confused about the number of rak’ahs he has performed).
   2. It is not the first time, rather it has already happened a few times before. However, when he contemplates, he realises that he has a “more likely” number.
   3. It is not the first time and he does not have a “more likely” number. Rather, he is totally unsure about the number of rak’ahs he has performed.

• In the first scenario, the person should begin his salah ab initio (from the beginning).
• In the second scenario, the person should act upon the “more likely” number and complete his Salah from that point onwards and perform a Saj’dah of Sahw in the final rak’ah. Therefore, if a person is confused whether he has performed 2 or 3 rak’ahs; but when he contemplates, he realises that it is “more likely” he has performed three – he should continue as if he has performed three rak’ahs.
• In the final scenario, the person should act upon the number which is the “least” and “certain”. Therefore, if he is unsure whether he has performed 2 or 3, he should go for two, and if it is between 3 or 4, it would be three. However, he must sit (perform Qa’dah) in every rak’ah which could be regarded as the final rak’ah and perform a Saj’dah of Sahw in the final rak’ah.
• To illustrate this more clearly, we will give an example. Let us suppose that a person is praying Asr Salah. During the fourth rak’ah, he became confused about the number of rak’ah he is in – whether the third or the fourth. According to the principle mentioned above, he should consider himself to be in the third rak’ah. In an ordinary four-rak’ah salah, a person is not supposed to sit in the third rak’ah. However, in this extra-ordinary case, the person will be required to sit in the third rak’ah; as this could have been his fourth rak’ah had he acted upon the bigger number. Having sat in the third rak’ah, he should sit in the final rak’ah again and perform a Sajdah of Sahw.
• NB: In the final two scenarios, a person is also permitted to start his Salah ab initio, instead of acting on the “more likely” number or the “least” number, respectively.
  

Only Allah knows best.

Answered by:

Abdullah Fahim
Imam & Khateeb, Masjid Taqwa
Kyrwicks Lane, Birmingham

4^th Dhul-Qa’dah 1441 AH

مسائل نماز، مولانا رفعت عثمان : ص 280

الدر المختار مع حاشية ابن عابدين (راجع: ج 4، ص 518-524، دار الثقافة والتراث)