A latecomer who doubts whether he caught the bowing with the imam or not, what should he do?

Question : What do you say about a man who arrives while the imam is bowing? He says the opening takbir, then bows, then he becomes uncertain: did he catch the imam in the bowing, or did the imam rise before he caught him? What should he do?

Answer : It is based on the principle. According to the author’s view, it is not counted; he cancels it, because he is uncertain whether he caught it or not, so he builds on the certainty that he did not catch it, and he cancels this rak'ah. According to the second opinion, we say: does it predominate in your mind that you caught the imam in the bowing, or not? If he says yes, it predominates in my mind that I caught him in the bowing, we say the rak'ah is counted for you, it is counted for you. Now, does he prostrate or not? We will come to it, if Allah wills, that the one who is worried is not required to prostrate if he did not miss anything of the prayer, and if he missed something of the prayer, he is required to prostrate.