Did the one who did what Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) did in catching up with the bowing, whenever he came and found the imam bowing, bow before the row and then join the row, did he hit the Sunnah or did he contradict it?

The questioner: All right, our Shaykh, some of our brothers—excuse me—do what Abu Bakrah did; meaning, continuously, and I told him...

The Shaykh: Excuse me, what do you mean by the action of Abu Bakrah?

The questioner: He bowed before the row.

The Shaykh: And by your saying "continuously," what do you mean?

The questioner: That he bowed before the row, and this happens whenever he comes, he does this action, he bows before the row, then he walks bowing until he stands in the row. So I said: Abu Bakrah only did it once, do you see how? But this person, whenever he enters and finds them bowing, he bows before the row and then joins the row; did he hit the Sunnah or did he contradict it?

The Shaykh: All right; if you say this, then what do you do if you did what Abu Bakrah did once, as you say, and then you came another time after days or weeks or years; what do you do if you find the imam bowing?

The questioner: I do it. [He laughsThe Shaykh : AndThe questioner ! ] .

The Shaykh: So the qualification you mentioned in your speech has no weight from the perspective of knowledge. This is called arguing in what the arguer sees; meaning, convincing him with his own tongue. But better than this is that we remind you that your saying that Abu Bakrah did not do it except once is a claim. Where do you get that Abu Bakrah did not do it except once? If you want to say something like this, you should say that the incident happened to Abu Bakrah with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) once. As for saying that he did not do it except once, this should not be said. This is first.
Second: We have a hadith other than the hadith of Abu Bakrah; and it is the answer in the core, as it is said, regarding your question; and it is the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both). He said: "It is from the Sunnah." In this one time only?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh: Ah, "It is from the Sunnah that if a man enters the mosque and finds the imam bowing, he should bow where he is, then creep bowing until he enters the row."
So this is from the Sunnah; meaning, whenever the worshipper enters the mosque and finds the imam bowing, he bows where he is, and creeps bowing until he enters the row. This is second. And third: I mentioned to some of our brothers recently that we are now re-printing the first volume of "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah" (The Chain of Authentic Hadiths). In this volume is this hadith of Ibn al-Zubayr. There is that man whom you must have heard of, "Ibn 'Abd al-Mannan," who made it his habit, with the habit of authentic hadiths, to weaken them, even if the Ummah had agreed on their authenticity. He came to three hadiths from "Silsilat al-Sahihah" and weakened them. So I tracked this man and his weakening of authentic hadiths in some additions in this new edition. The important thing is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) helped me in my research to find a very important narration related to the hadith of Abu Bakrah. Because the truth is that the scholars differed in interpreting his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . What does mean? Do not return to running, do not return to bowing outside the row, no, no, and so on. There are, of course, opinions that prefer ; meaning, until you strain yourself and hurry in walking.
Some said: No, means until you hope to catch up with the imam in bowing by bowing outside the row. I was finally helped to a narration with a sound chain from Abu Bakrah that fully agrees with the hadith of Ibn al-Zubayr. It says: "If a man enters the mosque and the imam is bowing, he bows where he is, then walks until he enters the row." Abu Bakrah himself brings this story supporting and preferring the saying of those who said among the hadith scholars: does not mean do not return to bowing outside the row, but rather to the action of running which is prohibited in the hadith agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . And in this new narration of Abu Bakrah, there is support from him or understanding from him of his saying (peace be upon him) to him: ; that is: why did he bow outside the row? To catch up with the imam, to catch up with what he can of the great good. He said to him (peace be upon him): , but do not return to running, and not to the bowing which you were eager to catch the good by catching the bowing; so there is no obstacle...