Contemporary Fatawa
By Justice Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
When A Person Is Doubtful On How Many Rakat He Has Performed
Q. "It frequently happens during Namaz (Salah) that I forget the correct number
of Rak'at I have performed. For example, I get confused during the Salah
whether I have performed two Rak'ats or three Rak'ats. Normally in such a
situation I repeat my Prayer all over again. Is this what we are supposed to do
or is here any other solution to this problem? Please enlighten me in this
respect."
(Maleeha Siddiqi, Karachi)
A. You need not repeat the prayer every time you face such a situation. If a
person has experienced this confusion for the first time, he or she is required
to repeat the Salah. However, if this confusion occurs frequently, as in your
case, you are not required to repeat the prayer. Instead, whenever you are
confused during your Prayer, you should guess and should act according to the
number which appears to you more probable. For example, if you are confused in
the Zuhr Prayer whether you have performed two Rak'ats, or three Rak'ats, and
after reflection it seems to you more probable that you have performed three
Rak'ats, you should act accordingly and after adding one more Rak'at, your four
Rak'at will be deemed to have been complete.
But even after reflection, you cannot recollect the actual number of Rak'ats,
both possibilities are equal and you cannot prefer one of them over the other,
then you should act according to the lesser number. For example, if you caanot
reflect whether you have performed two Rak'ats or three Rak'ats, you should
presume that you have prayed only two Rak'ats and should add two more Rak'ars
to complete your Zuhr prayer.
However, in this case (i.e. when acting according to the lesser number) one
should sit for tashahhud after each Rak'at which could possibly be his last
Rak'at. Therefore, in the above example, (when one is confused about two or
three Rak'at, and takes it to be his second rak'at) he should sit after his
next Rak'at and should recite tashahhud, because there is a possibility that it
is his fourth and last Rak'at. Then after reciting tashahhud, he should stand
up and should complete the four Rak'at according to his presumption, and should
perform a sajdah of sahw in the last.
Take another example : Suppose, you are saying the Prayer and get confused
whether it is your first Rak'at or the second one. Both possibilities are
equal. Now you should take it as your first Rak'at. Normally it means that you
should not sit for tashahhud after Sajdah but since there is a possibility that
it is your second Rak'at i.e. the last Rak'at in the fair prayer, you should
sit after sajdah and after reciting tashahhud should you stand up again and
perform another Rak'at with a sajdah of sahw at its end.
In this manner, you can resolve the problem without repeating the prayer
Contemporary Fatawa
By
Justice Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Performing Qada Prayers
Q. "A person is regular in his daily five time prayers, but for some reason one
of his prayers becomes qada', and the time for next prayer arrives. what should
be the sequence of the performance of his prayers, under such a situation?"
A. The person who has never missed six prayers, or the number of his qada
prayers is less than six is termed as " sahib-ut- tartib". Whenever a prayer is
missed by such a person, he has to observe full sequence between the prayers.
He is bound to perform the qada' Prayer before the qada' prayers of the time.
For example, if he has missed the Zuhr prayer, then at
the time of 'Asr, he must perform the qada' of Zuhr, his 'Asrprayer will be
void, and he will have to pray again.
Observance of sequence is necessary between the different qada Prayers also.
All the qada prayers should be perform in the same order in which they were
missed. So, if a person has missed both the fajr and the Zuhr prayers, then, at
the time of 'Asr he must perform the qada of fajr first of all, then he should
perform the qada of Zuhr, and then he should pray the 'Asr. If the disturbed
this sequence, he will have to pray again observing the due sequence.
The observance of sequence is obligatory on every sahib-ut-tartib in normal
conditions. However, if he, while performing 'Asr prayers, forgot that his Zuhr
prayer had been missed, and he prayed 'Asr under this impression, his 'Asr
prayer is acceptable and he need not pray it gain.
Similarly if the time of 'Asr remains so short that, in case he prays
qada'first, the 'Asr time will be over, then also he can pray 'Asr first.
All these rules relate to a person who is sahib-ut-tartib. But if a person is
not sahib-ut-tartib i.e. the number of qada prayers due on him is six or more,
the observance of sequence is not obligatory on him and he can pray in whatever
order he
likes according to his convenience.
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