Is My Prayer Valid If a Foot Was Raised in Sujud Behind the Imam?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

I was praying next to an imam, and as I was getting up from sujud I realized one of my feet had not been touching the ground. The imam was already sitting. I thought of going back to sujud, which I could have done and still caught up with him, but I became unsure and worried about getting it wrong, so I sat with the imam and, after his salam, prayed an extra rakʿa to make up for it. According to the Shafiʿi school, should I have returned to sujud? Was it correct to make up a rakʿa? Is my prayer valid?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate.

Your prayer is valid, in my view. If the imam was in his first sitting (tashahhud), you were right not to return, since a follower may not, and right to add a rakʿa (unit of prayer) after his salam. If it was his final sitting, you should have returned to the prostration and then rejoined him; as I read the texts, the rakʿa you added after his salam supplied the prostration you missed.

A Prostration with One Foot Raised Doesn’t Count

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “I have been commanded to prostrate on seven bones: the forehead,” and he pointed to his nose, “the hands, the knees, and the tips of the feet.” [Bukhari]

In the relied-upon position, stated by Imam Nawawi, both feet must be placed in prostration (sujud), meaning the tips of the undersides of the toes. [Nawawi, Minhaj al-Talibin; Haytami, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj] So your prostration did not count.

A Follower Usually Completes His Prayer After the Salam

A follower who remembers in his tashahhud that he missed an integral stays with the imam and makes up a rakʿa after the salam. [Nawawi, Minhaj al-Talibin] Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami adds that he may not go back for it, because he must keep following the imam. He and Imam Ramli, who includes remembering before the tashahhud, exclude a prostration of the final rakʿa. [Haytami, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj; Ramli, Nihayat al-Muhtaj] Imam Haytami refers this to the rule that one who misses a prostration of the last rakʿa performs it and repeats the tashahhud. [Haytami, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj]

Why Your Prayer Still Stands

If it was the final rakʿa, you sat with the imam and then added a rakʿa only because you were unsure of the ruling. Imam Haytami excuses someone who doesn’t know the ruling, without the usual conditions, when what he adds is to make up something missed, because such an addition is easily overlooked or follows the imam. [Ibid.] I’d count your added rakʿa as such an addition.

Mercy for an Honest Mistake

Allah Most High teaches us to pray, “O Lord, take us not to task if we forget, or make an honest mistake.” [Quran 2:286; Keller, The Quran Beheld] May Allah accept your prayer and give you calm in it.

And Allah knows best.

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Related Answers

One. Imam Missing a Pillar in Prayer — Shaykh Irshaad Sedick: A follower who added a rakʿa after the imam omitted a pillar.

النصوص · Source-Texts

[البخاري] «أمرت أن أسجد على سبعة أعظم على الجبهة، وأشار بيده على أنفه واليدين والركبتين، وأطراف القدمين»

[النووي، منهاج الطالبين] «ولا يجب وضع يديه وركبتيه وقدميه في الأظهر قلت الأظهر وجوبه والله أعلم»

[النووي، منهاج الطالبين] «ولو ذكر في تشهده ترك ركن غير النية والتكبير قام بعد سلام إمامه إلى ركعته ولا يسجد»

[ابن حجر الهيتمي، تحفة المحتاج] «(وقدميه) أي أطراف بطون أصابعهما في سجوده»

[ابن حجر الهيتمي، تحفة المحتاج] «(ولو ذكر) المأموم (في) جلوس (تشهده ترك ركن غير) سجدة من الأخيرة لما مر في ركن الترتيب … (قام بعد سلام إمامه إلى ركعته) الفائتة بفوات الركن … ولا يجوز له العود لتداركه لما فيه من ترك المتابعة الواجبة»

[ابن حجر الهيتمي، تحفة المحتاج] «(فلو تيقن في آخر صلاته) أو بعد سلامه قبل طول الفصل … (ترك سجدة من) الركعة (الأخيرة سجدها وأعاد تشهده)»

[ابن حجر الهيتمي، تحفة المحتاج] «(بطلت إلا أن ينسى) أو يجهل … إن عذر بما مر في الكلام إلا في زيادة لأجل تدارك فيعذر مطلقا لأنها مما تخفى أو لمتابعة الإمام»

[الرملي، نهاية المحتاج] «(ولو ذكر) المأموم (في تشهده) أو قبله أو بعده (ترك ركن غير) سجدة من الأخيرة كما مر في الترتيب»

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the late world-renowned scholar Mawlana Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he specialized in Shafiʿi fiqh and issuing legal verdicts (ifta). He holds an MA (Cum Laude) in Semitic Languages from the University of Johannesburg and teaches at SeekersGuidance.