Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
nasai-kubra:589Ismāʿīl b. Masʿūd > Yaḥyá b. Muḥammad Hw Ibn Qays Abū Zukayr > Zayd b. Aslam > ʿAṭāʾ b. Yasār > Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī

[Machine] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "If one of you has doubt about whether he has prayed three or four units (rak'ahs), then let him pray a complete unit (rak'ah) and then make two prostrations while sitting. If that unit of prayer was the fifth, then he should make those two prostrations as a supplication. And if it was the fourth, then they serve as a deterrent to the devil." 'Uyad bin Hilal differed in his wording of the hadith.  

الكبرى للنسائي:٥٨٩أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ هو ابْنِ قَيْسٍ أَبُو زُكَيْرٍ عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ «إِذَا شَكَّ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلَمْ يَدْرِ أَصَلَّى ثَلَاثًا أَمْ أَرْبَعًا فَلْيُصَلِّ رَكْعَةً تَامَّةً ثُمَّ يَسْجُدْ سَجْدَتَيْنِ وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ فَإِنْ كَانَتِ تِلْكَ الرَّكْعَةُ خَامِسَةً شَفَعَ بِهَاتَيْنِ السَّجْدَتَيْنِ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ رَابِعَةً كَانَتَا تَرْغِيمًا لِلشَّيْطَانِ» خَالَفَهُ عِيَاضُ بْنُ هِلَالٍ فِي لَفْظِهِ  


See similar narrations below:

Collected by Nasāʾī, Abū Dāwūd, Mālik, Nasāʾī's Kubrá, Bayhaqī, Suyūṭī
nasai:1239Muḥammad b. Rāfiʿ > Ḥujayn b. al-Muthanná > ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz / Ibn Abū Salamah > Zayd b. Aslam > ʿAṭāʾ b. Yasār > Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī

The Prophet ﷺ said: "If one of you does not know whether he prayed three or four (rak'ahs), let him pray a rak'ah then prostrate twice after that when he is sitting. Then if he prayed five (rak'ahs), they (the two prostrations) will make his prayer even-numbered, and if he had prayed four, they will annoy and humiliate the shaitan."  

النسائي:١٢٣٩أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ رَافِعٍ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا حُجَيْنُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ وَهُوَ ابْنُ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ إِذَا لَمْ يَدْرِ أَحَدُكُمْ صَلَّى ثَلاَثًا أَمْ أَرْبَعًا فَلْيُصَلِّ رَكْعَةً ثُمَّ يَسْجُدْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ سَجْدَتَيْنِ وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ فَإِنْ كَانَ صَلَّى خَمْسًا شَفَعَتَا لَهُ صَلاَتَهُ وَإِنْ صَلَّى أَرْبَعًا كَانَتَا تَرْغِيمًا لِلشَّيْطَانِ  

abudawud:1026al-Qaʿnabī > Mālik > Zayd b. Aslam > ʿAṭāʾ b. Yasār

The Prophet ﷺ said: When one of you is in doubt about his prayer, and does not know how much he has prayed, three or four rak'ahs, he should pray one (additional) rak'ah and make two prostrations while sitting before giving the salutation. If the (additional) rak'ah which he prayed is the fifth one, he will make it an even number by these two prostrations. If it is the fourth one, the two prostrations will be a disgrace for the devil.  

أبو داود:١٠٢٦حَدَّثَنَا الْقَعْنَبِيُّ عَنْ مَالِكٍ عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ إِذَا شَكَّ أَحَدُكُمْ فِي صَلاَتِهِ فَلاَ يَدْرِي كَمْ صَلَّى ثَلاَثًا أَوْ أَرْبَعًا فَلْيُصَلِّ رَكْعَةً وَيَسْجُدْ سَجْدَتَيْنِ وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ قَبْلَ التَّسْلِيمِ فَإِنْ كَانَتِ الرَّكْعَةُ الَّتِي صَلَّى خَامِسَةً شَفَعَهَا بِهَاتَيْنِ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ رَابِعَةً فَالسَّجْدَتَانِ تَرْغِيمٌ لِلشَّيْطَانِ  

malik:3-66Yaḥyá > Mālik > Zayd b. Aslam > ʿAṭāʾ b. Yasār

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "If you are uncertain in the prayer and do not know whether you have prayed three or four rakas, then pray a raka and make two prostrations from the sitting position before the taslim. If the raka that you prayed was the fifth, then you make it even by these two sajdas, and if it was the fourth, then the two prostrations spite Shaytan."  

مالك:٣-٦٦حَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى عَنْ مَالِكٍ عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ إِذَا شَكَّ أَحَدُكُمْ فِي صَلاَتِهِ فَلَمْ يَدْرِ كَمْ صَلَّى أَثَلاَثًا أَمْ أَرْبَعًا فَلْيُصَلِّي رَكْعَةً وَلْيَسْجُدْ سَجْدَتَيْنِ وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ قَبْلَ التَّسْلِيمِ فَإِنْ كَانَتِ الرَّكْعَةُ الَّتِي صَلَّى خَامِسَةً شَفَعَهَا بِهَاتَيْنِ السَّجْدَتَيْنِ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ رَابِعَةً فَالسَّجْدَتَانِ تَرْغِيمٌ لِلشَّيْطَانِ  

nasai-kubra:587ʿImrān b. Yazīd > ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz > Zayd b. Aslam > ʿAṭāʾ b. Yasār > Ibn ʿAbbās

The Prophet ﷺ said: When one of you is in doubt about his prayer, and does not know how much he has prayed, three or four rak'ahs, he should pray one (additional) rak'ah and make two prostrations while sitting before giving the salutation. If the (additional) rak'ah which he prayed is the fifth one, he will make it an even number by these two prostrations. If it is the fourth one, the two prostrations will be a disgrace for the devil. (Using translation from Abū Dāʾūd 1026)   

الكبرى للنسائي:٥٨٧أَخْبَرَنِي عِمْرَانُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زَيْدُ بْنُ أَسْلَمَ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ «إِذَا شَكَّ أَحَدُكُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِ فَلَمْ يَدْرِ أَصَلَّى ثَلَاثًا أَوْ أَرْبَعًا فَلْيَقُمْ فَلْيَرْكَعْ» يَعْنِي رَكْعَةً وَيَسْجُدُ سَجْدَتَيْنِ فَإِنْ كَانَتْ خَامِسَةً شَفَعَهَا بِسَجْدَتَيْنِ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ رَابِعَةٌ كَانَتِ السَّجْدَتَانِ تَرْغِيمًا لِلشَّيْطَانِ  

bayhaqi:3826Abū Ḥāzim ʿUmar b. Aḥmad al-Ḥāfiẓ > Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥāfiẓ > Abū al-Ḥasan Aḥmad b. ʿUmayr b. Yūsuf al-Dimashqī Bidimashq > Muḥammad b. And Zīr / Ibn al-Ḥakam al-Sulamī > al-Walīd b. Muslim > Wataʾawwal Mālik b. Anas Mā > Zayd b. Aslam > ʿAṭāʾ b. Yasār > Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī

[Machine] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "If any of you have doubt about his prayer, he should not know whether he prayed three or four units (rak'ahs). He should dismiss the doubt and be certain. Then he should perform two prostrations before making the tasleem (saying salaam at the end of the prayer). If it is an odd number of units, he should make it an intercessory one through these two prostrations, and if it is an even number, these two prostrations become a means of rebuke for Satan."  

البيهقي:٣٨٢٦أَخْبَرَنَاهُ أَبُو حَازِمٍ عُمَرُ بْنُ أَحْمَدَ الْحَافِظُ أنبأ أَبُو أَحْمَدَ الْحَافِظُ أنبأ أَبُو الْحَسَنِ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عُمَيْرِ بْنِ يُوسُفَ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ بِدِمَشْقَ ثنا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ وَزِيرٍ يَعْنِي ابْنَ الْحَكَمِ السُّلَمِيَّ ثنا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ قَالَ وَتَأَوَّلَ مَالِكُ بْنُ أَنَسٍ مَا أَخْبَرَنَا هُوَ عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ إِذَا شَكَّ أَحَدُكُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِ فَلَا يَدْرِي أَثْلَاثًا صَلَّى أَمْ أَرْبَعًا فَلْيُلْقِ الشَّكَّ وَلْيَبْنِ عَلَى الْيَقِينِ ثُمَّ لِيَسْجُدْ سَجْدَتَيْنِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُسَلِّمَ فَإِنْ كَانَتْ وِتْرًا أَشْفَعَهَا بِهَاتَيْنِ السَّجْدَتَيْنِ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ شَفْعًا فَالسَّجْدَتَانِ تَرْغِيمٌ لِلشَّيْطَانِ  

suyuti:2053a
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السيوطي:٢٠٥٣a

"إِذا صلَّى أحدُكُمْ فلم يدرِ ثلاثًا صلى أم أربعًا؟ فْلُيصلِّ ركعةً ويسجُدْ سجدتين قَبل السلام، فإنْ كانَتْ ثالثةً شفعها السَّجدتان، وإنْ كانَتْ رابعةً فالسجدتان تَرْغيمٌ للشَّيطْان".  

[حب] ابن حبّان عن أبي سعيد