Chapter on the Detailed Explanation of Prayer, Including the Obligatory and Recommended, and What is Permissible and Not Permissible.

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: "If one prays before the time deliberately, he must repeat it. But if he was mistaken in that, and the time enters while he is still in some part of it, it suffices him. And if he completes it before the time, then he must repeat it."

For what is meant by it is the permissibility of delaying the prayer from its time due to a circumstance, excuse, or necessity. As for performing it early, it is not permissible in any case. The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: "If one forgets to face the Qiblah or errs in it, then remembers or becomes aware of it while the time for prayer remains, he must repeat the prayer. But if the time has passed, then there is no obligation to repeat it, unless his prayer, due to forgetfulness or mistake, was performed while facing away from the Qiblah (to the point of having his back to it); in that case, he must repeat the prayer whether the time remains or has passed."

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: "And if one forgets the opening Takbir, whether deliberately or out of forgetfulness, he must repeat the prayer."

So these two narrations are to be understood as referring to the one who forgot the Takbirat al-Iftitah and then was not certain that he had failed to say it, but rather was in doubt, then in such a case, he must continue with his prayer. As for when there is certainty and knowledge that he did not say the Takbir, then it is obligatory for him to repeat the prayer, based on the previously mentioned reports. Also, the narration we previously cited from Ibn Abi Ya’fur and al-Fadl ibn Abd al-Malik from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام contains an explicit statement that the Takbir during bowing does not suffice for the Takbirat al-Iftitah, and that with certainty (of omission), the prayer must be repeated. Thus, we know that what is contained in these two reports, that it is acceptable, is only in the case of doubt, not certainty. What further confirms what we have mentioned, in addition to what has already been presented, is what was narrated:

His عليه السلام saying, peace be upon him, ‘then let him make it up’, means the prayer, and He عليه السلام did not mean only the Takbir itself. As for His عليه السلام saying, ‘and there is nothing upon him’, it means that there is no punishment upon him, because he did not deliberately omit it, but rather forgot. So if he repeats the prayer, then there is nothing upon him. As for what was narrated:

So this report is also like the two preceding ones, because the intended meaning of the wording in the report is: ‘If he remembers it while standing before bowing, then let him say the Takbir; but if he bows without remembering, then let him continue with his prayer.’ There is nothing in the report that says: ‘If he bows while aware that he did not say the Takbir, then let him continue with his prayer.’ And since the interpretation we have given is possible, it does not contradict what has already been presented. The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: "And if one leaves out the recitation due to forgetfulness, then there is no obligation to repeat the prayer."

What is meant by this is that if he intentionally does not recite it, then there is no prayer for him. But as for forgetting, then his prayer is valid. What clarifies what we have mentioned is:

As for the one who deliberately leaves out the recitation, we have already clarified that there is no prayer for him. What further reinforces and clarifies this is what was narrated:

His saying, peace be upon him, ‘If you missed it in the first, then recite in the second,’ does not mean that he should repeat what was missed in the first rak’ah, but rather that he should perform the recitation specific to the second and third rak’ahs, while the ruling for the first rak’ah has already passed. The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: "If one omits the bowing (ruku’), whether forgetfully or deliberately, he must repeat (the prayer)." What indicates this is what was narrated:

All of these narrations are to be understood as referring to someone who forgets the bowing (ruku’) in the first two rak’ahs, then in that case, it is obligatory for him to begin the prayer anew in all situations if he remembers. However, if the forgetfulness occurs in the last two rak’ahs and he remembers while still in the prayer, then he should disregard the two prostrations of the rak’ah in which he forgot the bowing and complete the prayer. What indicates this is what was narrated:

The interpretation of this report is that it should be understood as referring to prayers in which forgetfulness is not excused, such as the Fajr (dawn) and Maghrib (sunset) prayers, and the like, or to the first two rak’ahs of the four-unit (ruba’iyyah) prayers, so that the various narrations do not contradict one another. It is also possible that what is meant by his saying ‘he must begin the prayer anew’ is that he must begin the rak’ah that he missed, and the report does not state that he must begin the entire prayer from the start. And what clarifies what we have mentioned is:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: "If one doubts whether he performed the bowing while he is still standing, then let him bow. But if he has already entered another position, such as prostration or otherwise, then let him continue with his prayer and there is nothing upon him." This also applies if he is in the last two rak’ahs (of a four-unit prayer), because if the doubt occurs in the first two rak’ahs, he must restart the prayer, as he has not completed their number with certainty, and there is a saying that any forgetfulness that occurs in the first two rak’ahs obligates repeating the prayer. What supports the first category (that he continues if the doubt occurs in the last two) from what has preceded is what was narrated:

This is not in contradiction to what we have previously mentioned, because what He عليه السلام, peace be upon him, intended was the case where a person has completed standing in the fourth rak’ah and does not know whether he bowed in the third or not, then, in such a situation, he must continue with his prayer. This falls under the second category we previously explained, namely: if one doubts about the bowing after having entered into another position, he continues with his prayer. What confirms what we have said is:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: "And if someone omits two prostrations from one rak’ah, he must repeat (the prayer) in all cases. But if he forgets one of them and then remembers it in the second rak’ah before bowing, he should lower himself, perform that prostration, then stand up and resume the recitation, or the glorification (tasbih) if he is in the last two rak’ahs, as we have previously explained. And if he does not remember it until after bowing in the second rak’ah, then he must make it up after the salam and perform two prostrations of forgetfulness (sajdatay al-sahw)."

As for what indicates that if one forgets a single prostration and remembers it before bowing, he must lower himself and perform that prostration, it is what was narrated:

And this ruling regarding forgetfulness in prostration specifically pertains to the last two rak‘ahs, because if one doubts in the prostration during the first two rak‘ahs, he must repeat. This is indicated by what has been narrated:

And this report does not contradict.

So this report is not contradictory to the first report, because His عليه السلام saying, “And forgetting the prostration in the first two and the last two (rak‘ahs) is the same,” He عليه السلام only intended by it the case of leaving both prostrations together. Do you not see that what the report contained was only the ruling of someone who left both prostrations together? For Imam عليه السلام said: “If he remembers it after the bowing, he must repeat the prayer.” So were it not that what is meant by remembering the prostration is both of them together, it would not have been obligatory to repeat prayer, as explained:

So this too is not contradictory to what we have mentioned, because His عليه السلام statement, "the one who forgets the last prostration of the second rak‘ah," may mean the second rak‘ah of the last two rak‘ahs. And there is nothing in the apparent wording of the report to indicate whether it refers to the second rak‘ah of the first two or the last two; rather, it is possible to interpret it as referring to either. Therefore, since it is open to both possibilities, we interpret it as referring to the second rak‘ah of the last two rak‘ahs. And thus all the narrations are in harmony, all praise and bounty be to Allah سبحانه وتعالى. As for that which indicates the obligation of performing the two prostrations of forgetfulness (sajdatay al-sahw) upon one who has left a prostration and did not remember it until after the bowing, as he (al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى have mercy on him, has mentioned (following narration):

And this narration does not contradict the report we previously presented, which is the narration of Abu Basir from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, when he mentioned the ruling of one who forgot a prostration and did not remember it until after the bowing. Imam عليه السلام said: "He makes it up after the prayer, and there is no prostration for forgetfulness upon him." His saying, peace be upon him, ‘and there is no prostration for forgetfulness upon him,’ only means that his ruling is not the ruling of those who are forgetful (sahin), but rather the ruling of those who interrupt the act, because when he remembers what he missed and makes it up, nothing remains for him to be in doubt about, thus he exits the state of forgetfulness. As for what is contained in the narration of al-Halabi, that if one doubts whether it was one prostration or two, he should add a prostration, and there is no prostration for forgetfulness upon him, this applies to one for whom this is the ruling. And we have only made the two prostrations of forgetfulness obligatory upon one who realizes after the bowing that he left out a prostration, for such a person makes it up after the taslim and then performs the two prostrations of forgetfulness.

And whoever prostrates after having doubted, and then remembers that he had indeed performed both prostrations, he continues with his prayer. But as for the bowing (ruku‘), whenever one bows and then remembers that he had already bowed before that, he must begin the prayer anew. This was narrated by:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘If one forgets the tasbih in bowing and prostration, there is no obligation to repeat the prayer.’ This is supported by what was narrated:

As for that which indicates that if one deliberately leaves it out, then his prayer is invalid, it is what was narrated:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘If one forgets the tashahhud, he makes it up and does not repeat the prayer.’

And as for when he does not remember until after the bowing, then the two prostrations of forgetfulness become obligatory for him, according to what we have mentioned, and this is also clearly supported by what was narrated:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘And the salam in prayer is a sunnah and not an obligation whose omission invalidates the prayer.’ This is supported by what was narrated:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘And the ‘tawajjuh’ with seven takbirat…’ up to his statement: ‘And the ‘qunut’ is a strongly emphasized sunnah.’ Indeed, a complete explanation of all that has already been provided earlier. The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘The ‘qunut’ is a strongly emphasized sunnah that should not be abandoned when one has the choice. And whoever forgets it and does not perform it before bowing should make it up after the bowing. If he does not remember it until he bows in the third rak‘ah, then he should make it up after finishing the prayer.’

So it is permissible that what He عليه السلام, peace be upon him, meant was that there is no obligatory redoing upon him, because the ‘qunut’ is originally not obligatory, so how could its making up be obligatory? Rather, it is a recommended sunnah; thus, making it up is also a recommended and encouraged act, not an obligation. And it is also possible that what He عليه السلام, peace be upon him, intended was that there is no redoing upon him in a situation of ‘taqiyyah’ (precautionary dissimulation). What clarifies and explains this is what was narrated:

And we have already thoroughly covered the ‘qunut’ and the rulings related to it in detail previously, and that suffices, if Allah سبحانه وتعالى willing. The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said after mentioning matters whose explanation has already been provided, such as the supplication of ‘qunut’, the ‘tasbih’ of (Sayyidah) al-Zahra’ صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, peace be upon her, its merit, the audible recitation (‘jahr’) in some prayers, and the silent recitation (‘ikhfat’) in others. Whoever deliberately recites silently where audible recitation is obligatory, or audibly where silent recitation is obligatory, must repeat (the prayer).

So this report is in agreement with the view of the general public (‘al-‘ammah’), for they are the ones who give a choice in this matter, whereas the ruling we act upon is what we have already presented. The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘The imam recites aloud in the Friday prayer…’ up to his statement: ‘And whoever misses the night prayer…’, we shall mention that in its appropriate chapters, Allah سبحانه وتعالى willing. The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘Whoever misses the night prayer should make it up at the beginning of the day; and if he is unable to do that, he should make it up on the second night before performing it, at the end of the night. And if he makes it up after the night prayer (‘ishaʾ al-akhirah’) before sleeping, that suffices for him. Likewise, whoever forgets the recommended day prayers (‘nawafil al-nahar’) or is too preoccupied to perform them, may make them up at night. And if he misses making them up at night, he should make them up the next day during the daytime.’

As for the manner of making up the missed (prayers), it is to be done in the same form as it was missed. What indicates this is:

As for what has been narrated that it should be made up as ‘shaf’ (even-numbered) when it is made up after Dhuhr, such as what was narrated:

So it is possible that what is meant by these narrations is someone who wishes to make up the ‘witr’ prayer while sitting, despite having the ability to stand. In such a case, it is appropriate that he prays two rak’ahs in place of each one. What clarifies and supports what we have mentioned is:

And what clarifies that this is specifically required of one who is in such a condition is what was narrated:

So this report has come explicitly stating that ‘witr’ is to be made up as ‘witr’, even if it is after Dhuhr. Were it not that the intended meaning of those other reports is as we have explained, they would be contradictory. It is also possible that those other reports are specific to the one who is negligent in prayer and deliberately abandons it regularly, as a form of punishment for him. What indicates this is what was narrated:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘One does not make up a recommended (‘nafilah’) prayer during the time of an obligatory (‘faridah’) prayer.’ What indicates this is: