Fatwa ID: 07659
Answered by: Aalimah Saleha Bukhari Islam
Question
As-Salamu Alaykum
If someone has an issue where when he makes up prayers in a majlis, sometimes he forgets how much he has prayed even though he tried to remember, so if he feels that he has prayed 3 Qadha prayers but then he gets doubts if it was 2 or 3 but his leaning is to 3, can he count it as 3?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Wa alaikum as salām wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh,
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said:
“When anyone of you stands for the prayers, Satan comes and puts him in doubts till he forgets how many rak`ahs he has prayed. So, if this happens to anyone of you, he should perform two prostrations of Sahu while sitting.” 1
[Sahih al-Bukhari 1232]
The Messenger (ﷺ) instructs us to continue our salah with the completion of Sajda Sahwa to rectify any doubts and shortcomings when the whispering of the Shaytan makes us forgetful. Similarly, when making up qada prayers, the Shaytan can come and put a person in doubt until he/she forgets how many salah’s were prayed. The act of fulfilling qada salah’s is a fulfilment of due worship which was left by way of excuse or other pressing need. In this situation, it is best to go with what you feel is predominant, certainty that you prayed 3 salah’s. If you are doubtful but more certain that you fulfilled 3 qada salah’s rather than two then this is the predominant thought.
This aligns with the legal maxim, “there is no consideration for mere suspicion,” meaning that legal judgments cannot be based on mere doubts. A mere doubt does not render one’s certainty null and void. 2 [Qawaid Al Fiqhiyyah P25]
Only Allah knows best.
Written by Aalimah Saleha Bukhari Islam
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
1 حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ إِذَا قَامَ يُصَلِّي جَاءَ الشَّيْطَانُ فَلَبَسَ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى لاَ يَدْرِيَ كَمْ صَلَّى، فَإِذَا وَجَدَ ذَلِكَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَسْجُدْ سَجْدَتَيْنِ وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ
2 (” لَا عِبْرَة للتوهم “)
