The Ruling on a Traveler Praying with a Resident

Question : The questioner says: A group of travelers arrived at the time of the 'Isha' prayer and entered the mosque. They had missed the first rak'ah of the 'Isha' prayer, and they had not prayed the Maghrib prayer. So they prayed the remaining three rak'ahs of the 'Isha' prayer with the imam, intending the Maghrib prayer, and then after they finished, they prayed the 'Isha' prayer. Is that permissible?

Answer : Yes, this is permissible, and it is good; there is no problem with it. Why? Because a difference in intention between the imam and the ma'mum does not harm. This is one reason. And because these people prayed three rak'ahs, which is the Maghrib prayer. One might say: these people sat in the first rak'ah.
They followed. Did you visualize the issue or not? These people entered with the imam in the second rak'ah of 'Isha'. When does the imam sit? In their first rak'ah, is that not so? Good.
And they did not sit in the place of their tashahhud in their second rak'ah, which is the third for the imam. We say this does not harm. This does not harm at all. Is it not the case that if a man enters with the imam in the second rak'ah of the Zuhr prayer, what happens?
He recites the tashahhud in the first rak'ah following the imam, and he leaves the tashahhud in the second rak'ah following the imam, because the imam will stand up for the fourth, which is the third for this latecomer. If the time of the bones means...