Is it permissible for a person praying alone to join a congregation without breaking his prayer?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : His transition from praying alone to following an imam. Yes.
The Shaykh : For example, a man is praying alone by himself, then the congregation arrives. When he sees the congregation, he joins them. Here, he has transitioned from praying alone to following an imam, which is based on the situation. He joined the channel. He separates from it during the prayer. No, no, it does not matter. He sits and waits. The important thing is that he transitioned from praying alone to following an imam. He was alone, then he became a follower.
The questioner : I mean, without restarting anything?
The Shaykh : No, he does not restart. If he restarts, he has not transitioned.
The questioner : This is what you imagined.
The Shaykh : No, no. If he restarts, may Allah bless you, he has not transitioned.
The Shaykh : For example, a man is praying alone by himself, then the congregation arrives. When he sees the congregation, he joins them. Here, he has transitioned from praying alone to following an imam, which is based on the situation. He joined the channel. He separates from it during the prayer. No, no, it does not matter. He sits and waits. The important thing is that he transitioned from praying alone to following an imam. He was alone, then he became a follower.
The questioner : I mean, without restarting anything?
The Shaykh : No, he does not restart. If he restarts, he has not transitioned.
The questioner : This is what you imagined.
The Shaykh : No, no. If he restarts, may Allah bless you, he has not transitioned.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 230 - 4600 هل يجوز انتقال المصلي المنفرد إلى جماعة دون قطع صلاته؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.