What should I do if the iqamah is called while I am praying a voluntary prayer?

The questioner : May the Shaykh explain, if the iqamah is called while I am in a voluntary prayer, what should I do?

The Shaykh : There are hadiths that serve as an answer to this question, with some clarification and explanation. Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The meaning of "when the prayer is established" is when the mu'adhdhin begins the iqamah; at that point, it is not permissible for the one praying a voluntary prayer to continue; he must cut it off. He should not conclude it with the taslim, because he is not in an obligatory prayer. It is mentioned in some hadiths: And in a narration: which means: It is well known that the Fajr prayer is two rak'ahs. This is a rhetorical question of rebuke, meaning: do not pray now that the prayer has been established. However, what causes difficulty for some people is that in some situations, the one praying a voluntary prayer may be at the end of his prayer or in the middle of it. So, wherever he is in his voluntary prayer, as soon as the mu'adhdhin says "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar" and completes the iqamah, does he cut off the prayer, or is there a difference of opinion or detail in this? The answer is yes. Some say that based on the apparent meaning of the hadith, if he has nothing left but the taslim to exit the prayer, and the mu'adhdhin says "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," he cuts off the prayer and does not say the taslim; rather, he stands up to prepare for the row. There are many opinions on this, and the stronger view, and Allah knows best, is the following detail, which is a jurisprudential insight from some of the imams that we do not contradict but rather support. The intent of the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): or as it is said today, is that the Muslim should strive to catch the prayer with the imam in the takbirat al-ihram, so that he does not miss anything of the prayer behind the imam, not even the takbirat al-ihram, because of the reward and virtue mentioned in some hadiths in Sunan al-Tirmidhi and others, from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): So we understand from this hadith the encouragement for the Muslim to be consistent in catching the prayer behind the imam from its beginning. If we return to our issue: a person stands up to pray the Sunnah before the Zuhr prayer, for example, and while he is doing so, the iqamah is called. What does he do? Does he cut it off immediately, as we said in the first opinion, even if he has nothing left but to say the taslim to his right, or is there detail in the issue? I say yes, the stronger view is the following detail: It is necessary for this person praying a voluntary prayer, for whom the iqamah is called while he is in his voluntary prayer, to strive and estimate. We take two completely opposite examples. We take the first example where he has nothing left to complete his prayer but to say the taslim to his right. And we take an example completely opposite to it: he said "Allahu Akbar" intending the Sunnah before the prayer, and the mu'adhdhin said "Allahu Akbar" establishing the prayer. There is no doubt that in the first case, he does not cut off the prayer, and there is no doubt that in the second case, he cuts off the prayer. Between these are many various situations. So, the person praying in this situation must estimate and strive. If it is more likely in his mind in some situations—for example, suppose he stood up from the second prostration to the second rak'ah and the iqamah was called—here, to complete the two rak'ahs, he needs to perform the second rak'ah, which takes some time. He estimates that if he performs this rak'ah, even with the shortest recitation, which is only the Fatiha, because it is necessary, and he can shorten the ruku' and sujud and what is between them, and say the taslim before the imam says the takbir, then he follows the prayer and does not cut it off. But if it is more likely in his mind that he will miss the takbirat al-ihram behind the imam, then he cuts off the prayer and does not complete it, due to his statement: As for the first case, he is certain because he will catch the prayer if he says the taslim, so the virtue of these two rak'ahs will be recorded for him. But in the other case, he entered the prayer and the mu'adhdhin said the takbir, so he is certainly unable to catch the takbirat al-ihram. This issue has extreme precision because it differs from mosque to mosque, from imam to imam, from country to country, from region to region, and from the madhhab of one imam to the madhhab of another. All these matters must be known by this praying person; otherwise, the precaution for one who is ignorant is to cut off the prayer immediately.
And I want to remind you with this detailed ruling that some madhhabs say that if the mu'adhdhin says "the prayer has begun," the imam says the takbir. So, can one catch this quickly if he has half a rak'ah left? But some other imams, may Allah preserve them, maintain the Sunnah. They order the people to straighten the prayer, saying to this one "move forward" and to that one "move back," and "straighten your rows, or Allah will distort your faces." At such a time, he can complete his prayer. So the issue has precision. Whoever is aware of such details can complete the prayer in some situations. And whoever cannot do so due to lack of detailed knowledge of the conditions of the imams, he must cut off the prayer immediately when the mu'adhdhin says "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar."
This is the answer.