Does one who catches up with the imam during the tashahhud enter the prayer with him, or does he wait for another congregation?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
A person says: He was present with the imam at the end of the prayer, during the tashahhud or before the taslim. Does he complete his prayer with him, or does he break his prayer and attend the other congregation?
The Shaykh:
If there is another congregation with him, he does not enter with the imam in this case; they pray as a congregation and begin a congregational prayer. But if he has no one with him, he should not miss the opportunity; he enters with the imam in what remains, and he gets the following and the reward.
The presenter:
He says: Yes.
The Shaykh:
Although some scholars say that one catches up with the congregational prayer by saying the takbir before the taslim. If he says the takbir before his imam’s taslim, as the phrase goes, “If he says the takbir before his imam’s taslim, he has caught up with the congregation,” this is in the text of al-Zad. But the correct view is that one does not catch up with the congregation except by catching up with a rak’ah. However, he does not miss the virtue and the reward, unless he knows that there are other people in a congregation, in which case he waits for them and they all pray together. Yes.
A person says: He was present with the imam at the end of the prayer, during the tashahhud or before the taslim. Does he complete his prayer with him, or does he break his prayer and attend the other congregation?
The Shaykh:
If there is another congregation with him, he does not enter with the imam in this case; they pray as a congregation and begin a congregational prayer. But if he has no one with him, he should not miss the opportunity; he enters with the imam in what remains, and he gets the following and the reward.
The presenter:
He says: Yes.
The Shaykh:
Although some scholars say that one catches up with the congregational prayer by saying the takbir before the taslim. If he says the takbir before his imam’s taslim, as the phrase goes, “If he says the takbir before his imam’s taslim, he has caught up with the congregation,” this is in the text of al-Zad. But the correct view is that one does not catch up with the congregation except by catching up with a rak’ah. However, he does not miss the virtue and the reward, unless he knows that there are other people in a congregation, in which case he waits for them and they all pray together. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يدخل في الصلاة من أدرك الإمام في التحيات أم ينتظر جماعة أخرى؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.