2] Reasons for doing the prostration of forgetfulness

2]
When is it prescribed for aworshipper to do the prostration of forgetfulness?.
Praise be to Allaah.
By the mercy of Allaah to His slaves, as one of the beauties of this perfect religion, Allaah has prescribed that His slaves may make up for shortcomings and mistakes that they make in their worship and cannot avoid completely, by performing supererogatory (naafil) acts of worship, praying for forgiveness and so on.
One of the things that Allaah has prescribed for His slaves to make up for shortcomings that may occur in their prayer is theprostration of forgetfulness, but it is only prescribed to make up for certain things; it does not make up for everything nor is it prescribed for everything.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about the reasons for doing the prostration of forgetfulness, and he replied as follows:
The prostration of forgetfulness in prayer is generally prescribed for three reasons:
1- Doing something extra
2- Omitting something
3- Being uncertain
Doing something extra: for example, doing an extra bow (rukoo’), prostration (sujood), standing or sitting.
Omitting something: such as omitting an essential part of the prayer, or omitting one of the obligatory parts of the prayer.
Being uncertain: such as when a person is not sure how many rak’ahs he has prayed, whether it was three or four, for example.
In the case of doing something extra, if a person adds something tohis prayer – bowing, prostrating, standing or sitting – deliberately, thenhis prayer becomes invalid, because when he added it, that means that he did not do the prayer in the manner ordained by Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does an action that is not part of this matter of ours (i.e., Islam),will have it rejected.” Narrated by Muslim, 1718.
But if he did that extra thing by mistake, then hisprayer is not invalidated, but he should do the prostration of forgetfulness after saying the salaam. The evidence for that is the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaahbe pleased with him) whosaid that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said the salaam after two rak’ahs in one of the two afternoon prayers, either Zuhr or ‘Asr, and they told him about that, he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did the rest of the prayer, then he said the salaam, then he prostrated twice (the prostration of forgetfulness) after sayingthe salaam. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 482; Muslim, 573.
And Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led them in praying Zuhr and he prayed five rak’ahs. When he had finished it was said to him: “Has something been added to the prayer?”
He said: “Why are you asking that?”
They said: “You prayed five (rak’ahs).”
So he turned towards the qiblah and prostrated twice. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4040; Muslim,572.
In the case of omitting something, if a person omits one of the essential parts of the prayer, one ofthe following two scenarios must apply:
Either he remembers it before he reaches the same point in the following rak’ah, so he has to go back and do that essential part of the prayer and whatever came after it,
Or he does not remember it until he reaches the same point in the following rak’ah, in which case the following rak’ah takes the place of the one in which he omitted that essential part, and he should make up the invalid rak’ah.
In either of these two cases, he should do the prostration of forgetfulness after saying the salaam.
For example: a man stoodup after doing the first prostration of the first rak’ah and did not sit or do the second prostration.When he started to recite Qur’aan he remembers that he had not done the second prostration or sat between the two prostrations. In that case he should go back and sit as between the two prostrations, then prostrate, then stand up and do whatever is left of his prayer, and do the prostration of forgetfulness after saying the salaam.
An example of one who did not remember until after he reached the samepoint in the following rak’ah is a man who stoodup following the first prostration in the first rak’ah and did not do the second prostration or sit between the two prostrations, but he did not remember that until he sat between the two prostrations in the secondrak’ah. In this case he should make the second rak’ah the first rak’ah, andadd another rak’ah to his prayer, then say the salaam then do the prostration of forgetfulness./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

Ruling on child passing in front of one who is praying

What is the ruling on an under-five year old child passing in front of a worshipper? If we were to stop him he will insist more on passing, or will sit where we prostrate, oron the worshipper’s head,especially if he is less thanthree years old.
Praise be to Allaah.
What you must do is stop him, because of the general meaning of the shar’i evidence concerningthat, including the words of the Prophet (peace andblessings of Allaah be upon him): “When one of you prays facing something that is screening him from the people, and someone wants to pass in front of him, let him push him back, and if he insists thenlet him fight him, for he isno more than a devil.” Agreed upon. What is meant by the phrase “let him fight him” is let him push him back forcefully. And Allaah is the Source ofstrength. End quote.
Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz (29/327).
But if the child is passing frequently and stopping him will distract the worshipper from his prayer, then he should let him be and not focus on preventing him.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Baari:
Ibn Battaal and others narrated that there was scholarly consensus that itis not permissible for him to move away from his spot in order to push him away, or to move a great deal in doing so, because that has a greater effect on the prayer than his passing in front of him. End quote.
And Allaah knows best./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

Does he have to wake his children who are seven years old to pray Fajr?

I have a daughter who is 7 years old, she prays Alhamdulillah. Do I have to wake her up for Fajr prayer, knowing that this made her dislike praying?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The father is like the shepherd of his householdand is responsible for his flock, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said. Based on that, he should educate his children and teach them to fulfil obligations and avoid haraam things. That includes telling them to pray when they reach the age of seven years, because of the report narrated by Abu Dawood (495) from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, whosaid: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Tell your children to pray when they are seven years old and smack them if they do not pray when they are ten, and separate them in their beds.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
But the father should be kind in teaching his small children how to pray, and he should encourage them by praising them, and giving them gifts and rewards so that they will get used to it and love it.
You can delay waking your daughter up until near sunrise, and encourage her to sleep early so that it will be easier for her to get up.
There is nothing wrong with you not waking her up on days when you think it will be too hard for her to wake up, because – for example – she went to sleep late or because it is very cold, and so on.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: I havea son who is about nine years old; should I wake him up for Fajr prayer?
He replied: Yes, if a man has children, male or female, who have reachedthe age of ten, he should wake them up. With regard to children who are younger than that, if he wakes them up so thatthey may pray on time, that is better, but there is no sin on him if he does not do that. But it is better to wake them up, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Tell your children to praywhen they are seven tearsold and smack them if they do not pray when they are ten, and separatethem in their beds.” End quote from Fataawa Noor‘ala’l-Darb.
He was also asked: My sonis eight years old; should Iwake him up to pray Fajr?If he does not pray, am I sinning?
He replied: It seems that itdepends. If it is winter, forexample, and it is very cold, then there is nothingwrong with leaving him and telling him to pray when he wakes up. But if the weather is normal and there is no harm done by waking him up, then you should wake him up so that he will get used to praying with the people. Nowadays, praise be to Allaah, there are young boys between the ages of seven and ten whom we see coming with their fathers to pray Fajr. If a child gets used tothat from an early age there is a great deal of goodness in that. But if it causes hardship, then you do not have to wake them up. But when they wake up you should tell them to pray. End quote from al-Liqa’ al-Shahri (40/18).
And Allaah knows best./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

1a] If she is afraid that it will be found out that she has become Muslim,how should she pray?

1a]
And Maalik narrated from Naafi' that Ibn 'Umar said: If the fear is
greater than that, they may pray walking, standing on their feet, or
riding, facing the qiblah orotherwise. Naafi' said: I donot think that
Ibn 'Umar narrated it from anyone but the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him). End quote.
Indeed the fuqaha' have stated that the prisoner orthe one who is
afraid thathis being Muslim will be discovered should still pray.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni (2/140):
If he flees from an enemy in a permissiblesense, or he flees from a
flood or wild animal or fire, and he cannot escapeit except by
fleeing, then he may pray in the manner that is permitted in the case
of extreme fear, whether he fears for himself or his property or his
family. If a prisoner fears for his life if he prays, or if someone is
hiding in a place, then they should pray howeverthey are able to. This
was stated by Ahmad with regard to the prisoner. If the one who is
hiding is sitting and cannot stand, or he is lying down and cannot
stand up or move, then he should pray according to his situation. This
is the view of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. Al-Shaafa'i said: He shouldpray
and repeat it (later on), but this is not correct,because the one who
is afraid should pray according to what he is able to do, and he does
not have to repeat it, as isalso the case for one who is fleeing. It
makes no difference whether one is travelling or not, because what
makes it permissibleis fear of death, and that is the same in both
cases.
Whenever he can find a refuge to do his prayer, such as if the one who
is fleeing from a flood can climb to a high place and the one who
fears an enemy can enter a fortress where he will be safe from the
enemy's attack and from harm, then he should pray therethen come out,
and he does not have the right tooffer the prayer of extreme fear,
because that is only permitted in cases of necessity, so it is only to
be done when necessary. End quote.
To sum up: this girl has tooffer the five prayers, and it is not
permissible for her to omit any of them. But she may perform the
prayer in whatever way she can, which includes offering the prayer of
extreme fear if necessary.
And Allaah knows best./