Does the one who catches the final sitting with the imam have caught the congregational prayer?

The questioner: In the prayer of the one who joins late, meaning I have discussed this with my brother Nasser more than once.

The Shaykh: Which prayer?

The questioner: The prayer of the one who joins late, the one who joins late.

The Shaykh: The one who joins late, yes.

The questioner: Does catching the final sitting mean catching the prayer? Catching the final sitting.

The Shaykh: If he catches the imam before the taslim, he has caught it, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , but the issue that arose for you is that catching [the prayer].

The questioner: is tied to the ruku'.

The Shaykh: No, catching [the prayer] has levels. So if one catches the imam at the takbirat al-ihram, there is no doubt or ambiguity that this is not like the one who caught him before the taslim, correct? And between this and that, there are degrees that are difficult to count. So if we assume one catches the imam when he begins al-Fatihah in the first rak'ah, he is not like the one who came after him moments later and caught him while he was saying, for example: . So, whatever examples you want, I have given you the highest, which is catching the opening takbir of the prayer with the imam, and I have given you the lowest, which is that he came and caught the imam before the taslim. Between this and that are degrees that no one knows except Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).

The questioner: I am not talking about the degrees, but catching the rak'ah, catching the rak'ah is catching the ruku', correct? The rak'ah counts as a rak'ah with the congregation if you catch the ruku'.

The Shaykh: So you want to say catching the ruku' is catching the rak'ah.

The questioner: Catching the rak'ah.

The Shaykh: Yes, okay.

The questioner: So I did not catch the last rak'ah.

The Shaykh: All right.

The questioner: I sat with the imam, and the imam said the taslim, and I completed the prayer fully after the imam's taslim.

The Shaykh: Perfect.

The questioner: So here, one of the conditions of the congregation, which is the imam who says the takbir, is not present for the original four rak'ahs for me, if the prayer is a four-rak'ah prayer.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: And I did not catch a rak'ah of the congregational prayer.

The Shaykh: Yes, what is the evidence for what you are saying? I quoted to you just now.

The questioner: My evidence is catching the ruku' only.

The Shaykh: Listen, I quoted to you just now the saying of the Messenger.

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : .

The questioner: And what you missed.

The Shaykh: This one missed four rak'ahs, so he performs them.

The questioner: He performs the four rak'ahs.

The Shaykh: Is he not included in the hadith, ? This one missed the entire prayer except the taslim, so he caught the taslim, correct? He sat, and before he could settle, the imam said: Peace be upon you. So now, what does this person do according to what you mentioned just now? And we will naturally have a discussion about that. This person who could barely sit and begin the tashahhud before the imam said: Peace be upon you, what does he do? Let us now say, whatever he caught, this is a topic we may return to. What does he do?

The questioner: Personally, I would say the taslim with him and start a new prayer...

The Shaykh: Good, what is the evidence for what you used to do?

The questioner: The evidence is that I did not catch the last rak'ah.

The Shaykh: May Allah reward you, pay attention. This is not evidence; this is a claim. You are claiming something. For example, I claim against you that I lent you one thousand riyals one day. This is a claim. What is the evidence I have? The evidence I have, for example, is that I take a written acknowledgment that you borrowed from so-and-so such and such. This is evidence. But my claim is what? I have such and such against you. The evidence is that so-and-so testifies against you with such and such. So we must distinguish between the claim and the evidence.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Do not rush me if you wish... You are claiming. We are now asking about the evidence for this claim. Do you have evidence?

The questioner: The condition of the congregational prayer is the imam.

The Shaykh: This is a claim. This is a claim. This is a claim. If the man prayed alone, was his prayer valid?

The questioner: It is not counted as a congregational prayer; it is counted as an individual prayer.

The Shaykh: Correct, but we mentioned just now examples of the one who caught the imam at the beginning of the prayer, or the one who caught him before the taslim, and between them are degrees. Now let us bring an example close to the latter: He sat, and before the imam finished the fourth rak'ah and sat for the tashahhud, he entered and sat with him. Did this one catch the prayer?

The questioner: He caught it. I mean, does he have the virtue of the congregation like the rest?

The Shaykh: What is it? May Allah reward you. We are saying the virtue of the congregation varies from case to case. The one who caught the full virtue of the congregation is the one who said, after the imam said Allahu Akbar at the beginning of the prayer, that he caught the entire prayer. But the one who missed a rak'ah, did he catch the entire virtue of the congregation?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Ah, come down, come down, come down, to where do you want to arrive? He caught from the prayer the imam's taslim. This one caught something, meaning as they say, "of the camel, its ear." That is, if the matter is between two people who entered the mosque, one slower than the other. The first passed him, sat for the tashahhud, and the imam said: Peace be upon you. The second: I did not catch the taslim. Are they equal, for example? No, they are not equal. But likewise, the one who caught the imam's takbir, the takbirat al-ihram, is not equal to the one who caught only the taslim. They are not equal, and between them are degrees and many degrees. So the more of the imam's prayer the one catches, the greater the reward, and vice versa. This is what we have reached. Time is up. Let us proceed, in the name of Allah.