How are awwabin and shukr prayers performed? How are intentions made for them? Are sajdah as-sahw performed after these prayers?
Dear Brother / Sister,
Sajdah as-sahw is performed after all fard, wajib and nafilah prayers due to mistakes necessitating sajdah as-sahw.
Shukr (thanking) prayer is a nafilah (supererogatory) prayer. This prayer can be performed when we are saved from a disaster, trouble and misfortune in order to thank Allah. It is stated that the Prophet sometimes performed a prayer like that.
The Prophet was ascended to Miraj upon the invitation of Allah. He stopped at Masjid al-Aqsa, Jerusalem, in the first phase of Miraj. He was ascended to the sky after he performed a two-rak’ah shukr prayer there.
When the Battle of Badr was going on intensely, the Prophet was informed that Abu Jahl, who had harassed and tortured the Prophet and Muslims for years, had been killed; the Prophet performed a two-rak’ah shukr prayer as soon as he heard it.
During the Battle of Khandaq, the Muslims underwent big hardships. Makkan polytheists came with an army of ten thousand people in order to eliminate the Muslims in Madinah. During the hottest moment of the battle, God Almighty sent a storm that hit the enemy and the polytheists had to leave Madinah. As soon as the Prophet (pbuh) heard this news, he performed a two-rak’ah shukr prayer. (Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya 4/130-132)
Shukr prayer can be performed any time; there is no definite time for it. It can be performed as two rak’ahs or more. However, it is not obligatory to perform it because it is a nafilah prayer.
Questions on Islam
- How is sajdah as-sahw (prostration of forgetfulness) performed according to Shafii madhhab? What are the things that necessitate sajdah as-sahw?
- Does sajdah as-sahw become necessary if a person reads the additional chapters in a wrong order in a prayer?
- If a person does not perform sajdah as-sahw though it is necessary, is his prayer invalidated? Is it possible to make a mistake while performing sajdah as-sahw? If it is possible, is sajdah as-sahw performed for sajdah as-sahw?
- What are the situations that necessitate sajdah as-sahw? Is it necessary to perform sajdah as-sahw in sunnah prayers?
- What should I do if I am late for the congregational prayer and the imam performs sajdah as-sahw?
- If a person who has started to follow the imam later gets up and continues the prayer after the imam salutes to the right and performs sajdah as-sahw, what should he (masbuq) do?
- What should a person who forgets the number of rak’ahs he has performed or who makes a mistake about rak’ahs do?
- If somebody from the congregation does not follow the imam when the imam performs sajdah as-sahw, is his prayer invalidated?
- If I forget to recite an additional surah (chapter), will my prayer be valid?
- What is the decree about sajdah as-sahw (prostration of forgetfulness)? Is it better to perform sajdah as-sahw or to interrupt and perform the prayer again if one has enough time?
