[Q 467] Repeating Verses in Surah Al-Fatiha and Sajdah Sahw

Question

An Imam said he read 3 verses of Surah Al-Fatiha in Isha quietly and then realized that he had to read loudly, so he restarted the Surah loudly;
Will he do Sajdah Sahw (prostration of forgetfulness), and if he did, what will be the ruling?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الجواب بعون الملك الوهاب اللهم هداية الحق والصواب

Answer

In the mentioned situation, if in the Isha prayer the Imam recited three verses of Surah Al-Fatiha quietly by mistake and then recited those verses again aloud, the Sajdah Sahw (prostration of forgetfulness) is waived. There was no need for him to perform Sajdah Sahw. However, if the Imam did perform Sajdah Sahw, the prayer will still be valid.

But if the Imam performs Sajdah Sahw without necessity—when it was not Wajib (necessary)—then those followers (Muqtadis) who joined the congregation after the Imam had turned his head for Salam to perform Sajdah Sahw, their prayer will not be valid.

The reason is that when Sajdah Sahw was not Wajib, the Imam exited the prayer upon turning his head to the right side, and after that, the Muqtadis who joined did not participate in any part of the Imam’s prayer; hence, their following (Iqtida) is invalid.
The detailed ruling is as follows:
If the Imam in a Jahri (loud) prayer recites even a single verse quietly equal to the amount that makes the prayer valid, then Sajdah Sahw becomes Wajib (necessary).

However, if he repeats that recitation aloud, the obligation of Sajdah Sahw is removed.
It should be well understood that just as reciting aloud (Jahr) in a Jahri prayer is Wajib for the Imam, it is also necessary for both the Imam and an individual (Munfarid) not to repeat the majority portion of Surah Al-Fatiha.

This is because refraining from repeating most of Surah Al-Fatiha is also Wajib, and intentionally omitting a Wajib act makes the prayer Wajib al-I’adah (obligatory to repeat).

In the mentioned case, since the Imam did not recite most of Surah Al-Fatiha quietly, repeating it aloud does not constitute repetition of the majority portion, and the Sajdah Sahw that became Wajib for not reciting aloud is now waived due to the loud repetition.

Concerning reciting aloud in silent prayers and silently in loud prayers, Fatawa Alamgiri states:

“لو جهر فیما یخافت او خافت فیما یجهر وجب علیہ سجود السھو واختلفوا فی مقدار مایجب بہ السھو منھما قیل یعتبر فی الفصلین بقدر ماتجوز بہ الصلاۃ وھوالاصح”

(Al-Fatawa Al-Hindiyyah, vol. 1, p. 128, Peshawar edition)

If in a Jahri prayer some verses of Surah Al-Fatiha are recited quietly and then repeated aloud, the Sajdah Sahw is waived. As Imam Ahl al-Sunnat Sayyidi A’la Hazrat عليه الرحمۃ writes in Jadd al-Muhtar:

“لو خافت ببعض الفاتحۃ یعیدہ جھرا لان تکرار البعض لایوجب السھو ولا الاعادۃ و الاخفاء بالبعض یوجبہ فبالاعادۃ جھرا یزول الثانی و لایلزم الاول”

(Jadd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Salah, Fasl fi al-Qira’ah, vol. 3, p. 237, Maktaba al-Madina, Karachi)

Sadr al-Shari‘ah Mufti Amjad Ali A‘zami عليه الرحمۃ states:
“If the Imam recites a verse quietly in a loud (Jahri) prayer or aloud in a silent (Sirri) prayer, Sajdah Sahw becomes Wajib.”

(Bahar-e-Shari‘at, vol. 1, p. 714, Maktaba al-Madina, Karachi)

Imam Ahl al-Sunnat Shah Ahmad Raza Khan عليه الرحمۃ says in response to a similar question:
“The prayer of the Imam and the earlier followers is valid, but those who joined after the Imam went into Sajdah Sahw, their prayer is invalid, because when in reality there was no mistake, the Salam the Imam turned to the right caused the prayer to end. This Sajdah Sahw without cause was meaningless, and thus it did not return him to the sacred state of prayer. Therefore, those followers did not join the Imam in any part of his valid prayer, and their prayer is invalid.”

He further quotes from Radd al-Muhtar:

“اذا سجد وقع لغوا فکانہ لم یسجد فلم یعد الی حرمۃ الصلٰوۃ”

(Fatawa Ridawiyyah, vol. 8, p. 185, Raza Foundation, Lahore)

Answered by: Usman Madani (Ask Mufti Scholar)
Translated answer
Date: 22nd October 2025
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