One tiny, involuntary movement during prayer — lifting your forehead off the turbah — could be the difference between a repeated sajdah and nothing at all. Click to learn why.
Unintentional separation of the forehead from the turbah during sajdah is an issue that can occur for worshippers, and knowing the legal ruling on it is necessary.
In general, if the forehead is unintentionally and before finishing the sajdah invocation lifted from the turbah, it should be counted as one sajdah and the forehead should not be placed on the turbah again. But if some other limb (other than the forehead) is unintentionally lifted from the ground, it must be placed back on the ground twice and the sajdah invocation should be said.
The forehead is the most important sajdah limb and its separation from the turbah invalidates the sajdah. For this reason, if the forehead is unintentionally raised, there is no need to repeat the sajdah.
If a limb other than the forehead is raised, the sajdah does not become invalidated, and by placing that limb back on the ground and reciting the sajdah invocation, the sajdah will be valid.
Sahw (unintentional action): The main condition for this ruling is that the separation of the forehead from the turbah is unintentional. If the action is deliberate, the prayer becomes invalid.
Before finishing the invocation: If the forehead rises before the completion of the sajdah invocation, the aforementioned ruling applies.
Sajdah limbs: The limbs of sajdah are the forehead, the nose, both hands, and both knees.
