He said (36): 'Imran ibn Hudayr (37) informed us, from Nasr (38) ibn 'Asim al-Laythi, who said: 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, forgot in the sitting position (qa'dah), so they prompted him [by saying SubhanAllah]. He said: 'SubhanAllah,' meaning: 'Stand up.' He [Ahmad] also narrated with his chain of transmission the same from Sa'd. Al-Ajurri narrated it from Mu'awiyah (39), and from 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir, who said: 'I heard you saying 'SubhanAllah' so that I would sit, but that is not the Sunnah; the only Sunnah is what I did.' We have already mentioned the hadith of Ibn Buhaynah (40). As for if they prompt him [by saying SubhanAllah] before he stands up and he does not return [to sit], they should perform the tashahhud for themselves, and they should not follow him in omitting it, because he has omitted a mandatory (wajib) act whose performance was incumbent upon him, so they cannot follow him in omitting it. If he were to return to the tashahhud after he had begun reciting, they should not follow him in that, because he is in error. As for the Imam, whenever he does that while knowing it is forbidden, his prayer is void, because he has intentionally added to the prayer something of its own kind, or has intentionally omitted a mandatory act. If he was ignorant of the prohibition or forgot, it is not void, because he added to the prayer by mistake. Whenever he learns of the prohibition while he is in the tashahhud, he should stand up and not complete the sitting. If the Imam remembers the tashahhud before he is fully upright and after the followers have stood up and begun reciting, and he returns [to sit], they are obligated to return with him, because the Imam has returned to a mandatory act, so they are obligated to follow him, and there is no consideration for their standing before him.
Section: If he forgets the tashahhud without sitting for it, his ruling regarding returning to it is the same as the ruling if he forgot it while sitting, because the tashahhud itself is the objective. As for if he forgets one of the
= 1/238. Al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter of What Has Been Said Regarding the Imam Who Stands Up in the Two Rak'ahs Forgetting, from the Chapters on Prayer. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 2/160. (36) Omitted from the original. (37) He is Abu 'Ubaydah al-Basri, a reliable narrator who died in the year 149 AH. In al-Taqrib 2/82, it states he is al-Suddi, and in al-Tahdhib 8/125, it states he is al-Sadusi. (38) In (m): "Mudar" (a corruption). (39) In (m): "Ibn Mas'ud" (an error), and it was mentioned previously on page 420. (40) On page 420.
