Is it prescribed for the traveler to separate from the resident imam in the four-rak'ah prayer at the first two rak'ahs?

The questioner : A continuation of the topic with the same separation.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Brothers who were praying with the imam; they were shortening the prayer. The 'Asr prayer was established, so they prayed with the imam. When they sat in the second rak'ah, they said the taslim when the imam stood up to perform a third rak'ah.

The Shaykh : They must follow him.

The questioner : Yes, they said the taslim and then stood up and performed two rak'ahs of 'Asr. Is this scenario correct regarding separation, or not? They said, "Give us a ruling on this matter."

The Shaykh : Excuse me, separation from whom here?

The questioner : From the praying people.

Another questioner : The travelers, meaning they combine and shorten.

The questioner : They had not prayed Dhuhr, and the 'Asr prayer was established, so they prayed with the imam intending Dhuhr for two rak'ahs and said the taslim.

The Shaykh : No, it is not permissible.

The questioner : So the imam completed the prayer. When the imam stood up for the third rak'ah, they stood up and said the takbir intending 'Asr for two rak'ahs.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : So we objected to this matter.

The Shaykh : This action is not permissible, because two things apply here: the principle we mentioned earlier, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): And more important than this principle, because every principle has exceptions, someone might say: "Is this an exception?" We say to him: No, based on the evidence narrated by Muslim in his Sahih and others, such as Imam Ahmad in his Musnad: So this is a text that is exactly on point: if the traveler prays alone, he must shorten the prayer, as we mentioned. But if he follows the resident imam, the Sunnah is to complete the prayer. And we know, unfortunately, that in this era there are published treatises in which they adhere to some general statements and hold that the traveler prays two rak'ahs absolutely, even if he is following a resident. Their imam in this issue, which deviates from the Sunnah, is Ibn Hazm; he is the one who raised the banner of shortening the prayer even when following a resident. But this authentic, explicit hadith in the Sunan—excuse me, in the Sahih of Muslim and the Musnad of Ahmad and other books of the Sunnah—settles or should settle the aforementioned disagreement.