Sayyiduna Fadl bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us while we were in our residence. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in the ‘Asr prayer. A small dog and a donkey, which were ours (domesticated), passed in front of him, but we did not stop them nor did we send them back.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: Once I was discussing an issue of prayer with Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), when Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) also came to us. He said: Shall I narrate to you the hadith which I heard from the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? We said: Yes. So he said: I heard the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "When a person has doubt about any deficiency in his prayer, he should perform as much prayer until his doubt becomes about having added (to the prayer)."

Makhul narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When a person has doubt about his prayer and cannot determine whether he has performed more (rak‘ahs) or less, then if the doubt is between one rak‘ah or two, he should consider it one; if it is between two and three, he should consider it two; if it is between three and four, he should consider it three, until the doubt becomes excessive." This narration is also transmitted with another chain from Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) from Sayyiduna ‘Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Awf.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates from Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If a person is in doubt whether his prayer is three or four rak‘ahs, he should complete the prayer (i.e., perform one more rak‘ah), because having an addition in it is better than leaving a deficiency in it."

Yaqub bin Ibrahim al-Bazzaz, Abu Bakr narrated to us, he narrated from Ja'far bin Muhammad bin Fudayl, he narrated from Ammar bin Matar al-Anbari (who used to come to Raha), he narrated from Abdur Rahman bin Thabit bin Thawban, he narrated from his father, he narrated from Mak'hool, he narrated from Kuraib (the freed slave of Ibn Abbas), he narrated from Ibn Abbas, he narrated from Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If a person becomes uncertain in prayer about whether he has prayed three or four (rak'ahs), then he should complete the prayer, for doing more is better than doing less."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates from Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When a person makes a mistake regarding whether he has prayed two or one rak‘ah, he should consider it as one. And when he is in doubt about whether he has prayed two or three, he should consider them as two. And when he is in doubt about whether he has prayed three or four, he should consider them as three, and then complete the remaining prayer, until he becomes more inclined towards having done more (i.e., excess), not less. After that, when he is sitting (i.e., reciting Tashahhud), at that time he should perform two prostrations (i.e., Sajdah Sahw)."

Sayyiduna Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): On the day Sayyiduna Dhul-Yadain came to you (i.e., the day he informed the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about forgetting in prayer), on that day the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed two prostrations of forgetfulness after saying the salam. The wording of both narrations is the same.

Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the prostration of forgetfulness (sajda sahw) after concluding the prayer with salam on the day Dhu’l-Yadayn drew his attention. These are the words of Ahmad bin Abdur Rahman.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "When a person is unsure about how many rak'ahs he has performed, whether three or four, he should perform one more rak'ah and then perform two prostrations of forgetfulness (sajda sahw) after he is seated (i.e., while reciting the tashahhud). If he ends up performing five rak'ahs, then the even number (i.e., four rak'ahs) will be counted as his prayer, and if he has performed four rak'ahs, then these two (prostrations) will disgrace the Shaytan."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri رضي الله عنه narrates this statement of the Noble Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: "When a person, while performing prayer, becomes doubtful whether he has performed three rak'ahs or four, he should perform one more rak'ah, until his doubt increases, then before saying the salam, he should perform the prostration of forgetfulness (sajdah sahw). If he has performed five rak'ahs, then four of them, being an even number, will count as his prayer, and if he has performed the complete prayer, then both (prostrations) will be a means of humiliating the devil." In this narration, the narrator has transmitted the words 'before the salam'.