Hadith Text

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said the salam after three rak'ahs of 'Asr, then he entered his house. A man called Al-Khibaq stood up and said: 'Has the prayer been shortened, O Messenger of Allah?' He came out angry, dragging his upper garment and said: 'Is he speaking the truth?' They said: 'Yes.' So he stood and prayed that rak'ah, then he said the salam, then prostrated twice, then he said the salam (again)."

Source Reference

The Book of Forgetfulness (In Prayer)

Sunan an-Nasa'i

Sunan an-Nasa'i 1237

Scholarly Commentary

This hadith demonstrates the human aspect of prophethood and provides crucial guidance regarding forgetfulness in prayer. The Prophet's premature salaam after three rak'ahs instead of four shows that even the Messenger could experience oversight in prayer, thus comforting ordinary Muslims who may forget.

The anger displayed by the Prophet (ﷺ) was not directed at the questioner but at his own forgetfulness, reflecting his humility and meticulousness in worship. His dragging of the garment indicates his haste to correct the mistake, teaching us the importance of promptly rectifying errors in prayer.

The corrective procedure - completing the missed rak'ah, giving salaam, performing two prostrations of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw), then giving salaam again - establishes the proper method for addressing omissions in obligatory prayers. This demonstrates that the prayer remains valid despite such errors when properly corrected.

Al-Khibaq's courage in pointing out the mistake, and the community's verification of his observation, illustrates the collective responsibility in maintaining proper worship and the permissibility of correcting even the Imam when necessary.