Fatwa ID: 03838
Answered by: Shaykh Umer Khan
Question
Aww,
I hope you are well.
If a person hears a sajdah Aayat but isn’t aware that it is a sajdah Aayat then what should happen? Would the hafiz be questioned for not informing him?
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
In the Ḥanafī madhhab, the sajdah of tilāwah (the prostration when reading certain verses of the Qur'ān) is considered wājib (obligatory) when someone hears or recites any of the following verses:
- Sūrah al-Aʻrāf (7) verse 206
- Sūrah al-Raʻd (13) verse 15
- Sūrah al-Naḥl (16) verse 50
- Sūrah Isrā' (17) verse 109
- Sūrah Maryam (19) verse 58
- Sūrah al-Ḥajj (22) verse 18
- Sūrah al-Furqān (25) verse 60
- Sūrah al-Naml (27) verse 26
- Sūrah al-Sajdah (32) verse 15
- Sūrah Ṣād (38) verse 24
- Sūrah Fuṣṣilat (41) verse 38
- Sūrah al-Najm (53) verse 62
- Sūrah Inshiqāq (84) verse 21
- Sūrah al-ʻAlaq (96) verse 19
One should perform the sajdah as soon as possible after hearing one of these verses. If a person forgot to perform the sajdah and then later remembered, or the person was not aware that sajdah needs to be performed and later became aware, it would be wājib (obligatory) upon them to make up the sajdah.[1]
If someone permanently forgot to make the sajdah or never became aware that sajdah was to be performed, then we should remember that we are not held responsible for those things that are outside of our control. Allāh says, "Allāh does not burden any soul, except what it can bear" and He teaches us to make duʻā "Our Lord, do take us to task if we forget or make mistakes”.[2]
If an imām leading prayer or a ḥāfiẓ reciting Qur'ān does not perform the sajdah, it is possible that they follow a different school of thought where the sajdah is not considered obligatory. If such a scenario occurs in prayer, the follower of the imām would be absolved from having to make the sajdah.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Shaykh Umer Khan
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
