Witr mistake & salam doubt — Is prayer valid?
Question
Salam, I was praying witr when I went down for ruku and realised I didn’t say my qunoot so quickly stood up (bare in mind nothing was said in ruku) and then read my salah as normal (qunoot was read) and at the end I did sujood as sahw - is the witr valid as I was already in the position of ruku when I realised and I saw somewhere that you should continue if you’ve moved onto the next part which I didn’t do. But even if I was supposed to move on, does the sujood cover all the mistakes I’ve made? What if I made a small slip whilst saying Salam right at the end does that mistake get covered by the sujood. Also, I have waswas, and every time I read witr I always doubt if I said Salam to my left - I even record myself praying but the video always cut short due to storage issues and I never see the ending which makes the doubt worse - I try to avoid repeating prayers where I can and I tell myself I pray all the time and muscle memory would make me say Salam right to left - is this correct? How to cover some this doubt that always comes when I’m saying my salams. Because even right now the doubt is lingering and giving me anxiety that I need to redo my prayer because I didn’t say Salam.
Islamic Ruling & Answer
VerifiedWalekumussalam,
(1) Yes, the prayer is valid.
If you returned before reciting anything in Ruku, then this was correct. You read Qunoot and performed Sujood as-Sahw, so there is no issue.
And even if you had already recited the Tasbeeh of Ruku, then returning would not have been correct — but if you still returned and then performed Sujood as-Sahw, the prayer is still valid. No need to repeat it.
(2) No, absolutely not.This is just waswas (whispers), and it has no value.If you are certain that you prayed, then your prayer is done completely ignore the doubt. Repeating the prayer again and again is not correct; in fact, it increases the waswas.Whenever doubt comes, immediately recite:
“أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم"
And daily recite Surah Al-Falaq and Surah An-Nas, especially:
“مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ”
And firmly tell yourself:
I will not follow doubt; I will act upon certainty.
Answered by
Mufti Tosif Qasmi
April 09, 2026