The Ruling on the Prayer of One Who Joins Late If He Stands Before the Imam’s Second Closing Salam

Question:
We have Abu Muhammad from Ha’il. Go ahead, Abu Muhammad. Peace be upon you. And upon you be peace, go ahead. Peace. May Allah welcome you, Shaykh Salih. My first question is to clarify the issue of the prayer of one who joins late if he does not follow the imam, because I heard that it becomes a voluntary prayer. This is the first question. Wait a moment until the Shaykh answers it.

Answer:
Yes. The jurists mentioned that if one who joins late stands up before the imam’s second closing salam, his prayer becomes a voluntary prayer, as stated in the commentary on al-Zad. This is because following the imam is obligatory, and he left him without an excuse, leaving him before he completed the salam without an excuse, so his prayer turns into a voluntary prayer, because one closing salam is sufficient for a voluntary prayer. Yes.