"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led us in praying two rak'ahs, then he stood up and did not sit, and the people stood up with him. When he finished the prayer, and we were waiting for him to say the taslim, he said the takbir and prostrated twice while sitting, before the taslim. Then he said the taslim."
The Book of Forgetfulness (In Prayer)
Sunan an-Nasa'i - Hadith 1222
Hadith Text
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led us in praying two rak'ahs, then he stood up and did not sit, and the people stood up with him. When he finished the prayer, and we were waiting for him to say the taslim, he said the takbir and prostrated twice while sitting, before the taslim. Then he said the taslim."
Scholarly Commentary
This narration demonstrates the procedure for the Prostration of Forgetfulness (Sujud al-Sahw). The Prophet (ﷺ) omitted the first sitting (tashahhud) in a four-rak'ah prayer, rising for the third rak'ah instead.
The Companions followed him in this omission, showing the congregation follows the Imam's actions. The Prophet (ﷺ) performed the prostrations after the final tashahhud but before the taslim, indicating this is the preferred method when additions or omissions occur in prayer.
This hadith establishes that prostrations for forgetfulness are performed for unintentional errors, maintaining the prayer's validity. The takbir before each prostration preserves the prayer's structure, and the final taslim concludes the prayer properly.