the establishment of the tashahhud requires examination. According to 'Ata', if he wishes, he may recite the tashahhud and perform the taslim, and if he wishes, he may not. Our evidence for the takbir is the statement of Ibn Buhaynah: "When he finished the prayer, he prostrated twice, saying the takbir in each prostration while sitting before he performed the taslim, and the people prostrated with him." This is an authentic (sahih) hadith (9). And the statement of Abu Hurayrah: "Then he said the takbir and prostrated like his prostration or longer, then he raised his head and said the takbir" (10). And because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to say the takbir in every rising and lowering. As for the taslim, 'Imran ibn Husayn mentioned it in his hadith which was narrated by Muslim, in which he said: "He prostrated the two prostrations of forgetfulness, then he performed the taslim" (11). And in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud: "Then he prostrated two prostrations, then he performed the taslim" (12). As for the tashahhud, Abu Dawud narrated in the hadith of 'Imran ibn Husayn that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed with them, then forgot, so he prostrated two prostrations, then recited the tashahhud, then performed the taslim. Al-Tirmidhi said: "This is a hasan gharib (good but singular) hadith." And because it is a prostration for which a taslim is performed, it should have a tashahhud with it, like the prostration of the core of the prayer. It is possible that the tashahhud is not mandatory, because the apparent meaning of the first two hadiths is that he performed the taslim without a tashahhud, and they are more authentic than this report, and because it is an isolated prostration, so no tashahhud is mandatory for it, like the prostration of recitation (sujud al-tilawah).

Section: If he forgets the prostration of forgetfulness until a long interval has passed, the prayer does not become invalid. This is the opinion of Al-Shafi'i and the scholars of opinion. It is reported from Ahmad that if he has left the mosque, he must repeat the prayer, and this is the opinion of Al-Hakam, Ibn Shubrumah, Malik, and Abu Thawr regarding the prostration that is performed before the taslim. Our evidence is that it is a compensatory act for an act of worship following its completion, so it does not become invalid by omitting it, like the compensatory acts of Hajj, and because it is prescribed for the prayer but is outside of it, so it does not become corrupt by its omission, like the Adhan.

Section: He says in his prostration what he says in the prostration of the core of the prayer; because it is a prostration