Prayer is the foundation of faith, and the individual should strive to maintain proper focus and reflection whilst praying, and not let himself be distracted by worldly matters. But he may make a mistake in the prayer, by omitting or adding to some of its actions. This mistake needs to be compensated for, so the prostration of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw) is prescribed in such cases. In this hadith, ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates what happened to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) with regard to making mistakes in the prayer. He narrates that one day the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him – Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i, the narrator of the hadith, said: I do not know whether he added something or omitted something. It is explained that he added something in al-Sahihayn: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed Zuhr with five rak‘ahs. When he said the taslim at the end of his prayer, some of those who had prayed with him asked him: Has something new been introduced into the prayer? The aim was to ask whether something new had been introduced through revelation that had changed the ruling on the prayer, by adding to what was usually done. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to them: “Why is that?” This is the question of one who did not realize what he did, and is not sure and does not know what is most likely to be the case. This is in contrast to the people behind him, as they said: You prayed such and such, telling him of what they were certain had happened. Their words “such and such” refer to what had happened, which was something additional and more than usual. Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: So the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) knelt; he sat as for tashahhud, then he prostrated twice, the prostration of forgetfulness. Then he said to them: “If something new had been introduced into the prayer, I would have told you about it.” And he said: “I am only human like you; I forget as you forget. So if I forget, then remind me.” Perhaps in His wisdom, Allah (may He be exalted) caused the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to make this mistake, so that he would teach his ummah what to do if the imam makes a mistake in the prayer. Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to the people: … if one of you is not sure, and he forgets whilst praying and does not know whether he has added something to it or omitted something, then “let him think what is most likely to be the case.” In other words, let him work out what happened, then if he thinks something is more likely to be the case, due to some circumstantial evidence, let him complete his prayer based on that, then do the prostration of forgetfulness. The point in this hadith is that whoever makes a mistake in his prayer, adding or omitting something by mistake because he forgot, then he remembers after saying the salaam, he should turn to face towards the qiblah and do the prostration of forgetfulness, because the prostration of forgetfulness is part of completing the prayer. Even if it is done after saying the salaam, it is still part of the prayer, and it is stipulated that one should face towards the qiblah when doing it, as is required in the prayer. This hadith shows us that even the Prophets (blessings and peace of Allah be upon them) could make some mistakes in their actions, but that does not undermine the position of prophethood or undermine any of the teachings of Islam. It indicates that the prostration of forgetfulness consists of two prostrations. It indicates that it is valid to do the prostration of forgetfulness after saying the taslim at the end of the prayer..