While praying, a person may begin to wonder how many rakats have been completed, or whether a rakat was missed by mistake. Doubt may also arise after the prayer about whether all the rakats were prayed. Here is brief guidance on what to do.

• If doubt about the number of rakats arises during the prayer and it is the first time this has happened, that prayer becomes void and must be prayed again. (Ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 2, p. 28)
• If doubt about the number of rakats arises after the closing salam, the prayer becomes void. (Ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 2, p. 28)
• If after the prayer a person is firmly convinced that some rakats were not prayed, and nothing contrary to the prayer has been done in the meantime, he should pray the missed rakats. If something contrary to the prayer has been done, he should pray it again. (Ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 2, p. 24)
• A person who doubts often, so that doubting has become a habit, should act on whichever count his mind inclines to more strongly. If both seem equally likely, he should act on the lower number, sit after every rakat as if it were the last, and perform sajda sahw at the end. (Muslim, hadith 888)
• If in doubt whether three or four rakats have been prayed, he should take it as three, pray a fourth rakat and perform sajda sahw at the end. (Musnad Ahmad, hadith 1677)

Source: Desh Rupantor. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.