What Is the Ruling on the Prayer If the First Sitting Was Omitted?

Question

In the 'isha' prayer the imam, by mistake, did not perform the first sitting, while most of the followers (muqtadis) sat and recited the tashahhud; when the imam went into ruku', some of them also went into ruku'. In any case, the imam later performed sajda al-sahw and completed the prayer. In this case, will the imam's prayer be valid or not? The imam says: “I am certain that the first sitting was missed by mistake, and for that reason I performed sajda al-sahw and prayed the prayer in full.”

Answer

Everyone's prayer was valid.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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