and the rak'ah counted as three rak'ahs are void. This is the opinion of Ishaq and Abu Bakr al-Ajurri. Al-Shafi'i said: It counts for him as two rak'ahs; because when he stood up to the second out of forgetfulness before completing the first, his action in it was void. Thus, when he prostrated in it, its prostration combined with the prostration of the first, and a single rak'ah was completed for him. Likewise, the third and the fourth result in one rak'ah for him from them. Abu Abd Allah narrated this opinion from Al-Shafi'i, then said: It is more similar to what these people—meaning the proponents of rational deduction (as-hab al-ra'y)—say. Al-Athram said: I said to him: If he does that, it is not correct; because he intends with this prostration (only) the second, not the first. He said: I say the same; he needs to perform two prostrations for every rak'ah. It is possible that this reported opinion from Al-Shafi'i is the correct one and that it is a school of thought for Ahmad, because he deemed it good and only excused himself from adopting it due to the fact that he only intended the second prostration for the second rak'ah. This does not prevent it from being attributed to the first, just as if he prostrated in the first rak'ah thinking he was in the second, or prostrated in the second thinking he was in the first. And Allah knows best. Al-Thawri and the proponents of rational deduction said: He prostrates four prostrations immediately. Al-Hasan ibn Salih said regarding one who forgot the two prostrations of every rak'ah: He prostrates eight prostrations immediately. This is invalid, because the order of the prayer is a condition for it, so it does not lapse due to forgetfulness, just as if he performed the prostration before the bowing (ruku') out of forgetfulness. If he does not remember until he has performed the taslim, he restarts the prayer, for he is left with nothing but a rak'ah that lacks a prostration, so when he performs the taslim, it is also invalidated. Ahmad explicitly stated its invalidation in the narration of Al-Athram, and at that point, he must restart the prayer.

Section: If one omits a pillar and then remembers it but does not know its location, he must base the matter on the worst-case scenario, such as if he omits a prostration and does not know whether it is from the fourth or from a preceding rak'ah. He should assign it