The latecomer counting the imam’s extra rak'ah

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, if the ma'mum misses a rak'ah, and the imam adds a fifth rak'ah, for example, in a four-rak'ah prayer, does that suffice for him? Does he then perform one rak'ah, and the extra one is dropped?

Answer:
This is a report of scholarly disagreement on the issue: does the latecomer count the extra rak'ah or not? The position that will be presented now, if Allah wills, is that he does not count it, because it is not considered valid for the imam, so it is not considered valid for the ma'mum. This is the well-known position in the school of jurisprudence. The second position is that it is permissible to count it, because it helps him to complete his prayer properly. So, it is valid for the imam, but it is not valid for the one who was behind him, so he counts it. This is the view of my teacher, Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him), in a collection of fatwas. However, the first position is more cautious. The first position is more cautious. Yes.