Hadithcore
Sunan Abi Dawud, 1036
sahih· Al-Albani

Narrated Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When an imam stands up at the end of two rak'ahs , if he remembers before standing straight up, he should sit down, but if he stands straight up, he must not sit down, but perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness. Abu Dawud said: I have not narrated in this book of mine any hadith from Jabir Al-Ju'fi (one of the narrators) except this one.

حَدَّثَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الْوَلِيدِ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ، - يَعْنِي الْجُعْفِيَّ - قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الْمُغِيرَةُ بْنُ شُبَيْلٍ الأَحْمَسِيُّ، عَنْ قَيْسِ بْنِ أَبِي حَازِمٍ، عَنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ بْنِ شُعْبَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏

‏ إِذَا قَامَ الإِمَامُ فِي الرَّكْعَتَيْنِ فَإِنْ ذَكَرَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَسْتَوِيَ قَائِمًا فَلْيَجْلِسْ فَإِنِ اسْتَوَى قَائِمًا فَلاَ يَجْلِسْ وَيَسْجُدُ سَجْدَتَىِ السَّهْوِ ‏

‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ وَلَيْسَ فِي كِتَابِي عَنْ جَابِرٍ الْجُعْفِيِّ إِلاَّ هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 2, Hadith 647
English Reference
Book 3, Hadith 1031
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Prayer is the pillar of the religion, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave great attention to teaching its rulings.This Hadith clarifies one of the rulings related to congregational prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “If the Imam stands up after the two Rak`ahs,” meaning if he rises after the second Rak`ah and forgets to perform the middle Tashahhud in a three- or four-unit prayer, “and remembers before he fully rises to a standing position,” meaning, before his body becomes upright in the third Rak`ah, “he should sit back down” and complete the middle Tashahhud. However, “if he has already stood up completely, then he should not sit down,” but instead should continue his prayer as normal. In this case, “he must perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness (Sujud As-Sahw)” to compensate for the omission. This ruling also applies to an individual praying alone..
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