I prayed with the imam and entered with him in the takbir of ihram and heard the recitation of al-Fatihah

The questioner : A female questioner says, O esteemedThe Shaykh : I prayed with the imam and entered with him in the takbir of ihram and heard the recitation of al-Fatihah. Then suddenly the imam's voice cut out, and I did not hear the takbir for ruku' due to a malfunction in the loudspeaker. So I was unable to follow the imam and completed my prayer alone. Is the prayer valid despite my differing from the imam?

The Shaykh : Yes. The prayer is valid. If the imam's voice cuts out and a person separates from the imam, his prayer is valid, because he is excused. But suppose this happens in the Friday prayer, and the voice cuts out in the first rak'ah and the person separates from the imam; then he does not pray Jumu'ah, because he did not catch a rak'ah of it. If it cuts out in the second rak'ah and he separates from the imam, he completes it as Jumu'ah, because he caught a complete rak'ah. However, it is not recommended for the ma'mum, whether male or female, if the voice cuts out, to intend to separate immediately. He should wait, because sometimes the voice cuts out and then they fix it. So when he is certain it will not be fixed, then he separates. Yes.