What is the ruling on one who did not follow the imam out of forgetfulness?
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Question:
The questioner says: A person prayed behind the imam and forgot to bow with the imam. He prostrated while the imam was bowing, and he did not realize this until after the imam had risen from bowing. What should he do? What should the person do? Does he complete his bowing while the imam is in prostration, or does he follow the imam without bowing? Please advise us. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
No. If he remembers, he stands up from prostration, performs the bowing, and catches up with the imam. If he does not do this, then when the imam concludes the prayer, he stands up and performs his bowing. If he bowed after the imam and caught up with him, he has fulfilled what is required of him. If he continued and did not perform the bowing, then when the imam concludes the prayer, he stands up and performs his bowing. Yes.
The questioner says: A person prayed behind the imam and forgot to bow with the imam. He prostrated while the imam was bowing, and he did not realize this until after the imam had risen from bowing. What should he do? What should the person do? Does he complete his bowing while the imam is in prostration, or does he follow the imam without bowing? Please advise us. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
No. If he remembers, he stands up from prostration, performs the bowing, and catches up with the imam. If he does not do this, then when the imam concludes the prayer, he stands up and performs his bowing. If he bowed after the imam and caught up with him, he has fulfilled what is required of him. If he continued and did not perform the bowing, then when the imam concludes the prayer, he stands up and performs his bowing. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم من لم يتابع الإمام ناسيا؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.