The Shaykh’s mention of the jurists’ disagreement on the issue of the one who joins the prayer late: does he complete what he missed or make it up?

The Shaykh : For example, if a person enters the mosque and finds the imam in the second rak'ah, and suppose the prayer is two rak'ahs, when this latecomer stands for the first rak'ah, does he recite the opening supplication or not? Likewise, if he enters the Maghrib prayer, which is three rak'ahs, and catches only one rak'ah behind the imam, when he stands, does he recite aloud for the two rak'ahs or for one rak'ah only? There is disagreement in the answer, and I will mention to you the reason for the disagreement. Some say that what he catches of his prayer behind the imam is the beginning of his prayer.

The questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy and blessings.
Accordingly, when he stands, he completes the prayer. So, since he caught the first rak'ah in a two-rak'ah prayer, when he performs the rak'ah, it is the second, and at that point there is no opening supplication. In the second example, the Maghrib prayer, he caught the last rak'ah of Maghrib, so when he stands, he recites al-Fatihah without the opening supplication, recites al-Fatihah and the surah aloud, then sits for the tashahhud, then stands for the third rak'ah. Why? Because what he caught of the prayer behind the imam is the beginning of his prayer. This is the position of the majority. The Hanafis are exactly the opposite; they say that what he catches of the prayer behind the imam is the end of his prayer, and what he will perform of the rest of the prayer is the beginning of his prayer. Therefore, the ruling differs for them regarding the two previous examples. In the Fajr prayer, he stands and recites the opening supplication, al-Fatihah, and a surah, because this is the beginning of the prayer. In the second example, the Maghrib prayer, he also stands and recites the opening supplication and the surah, bows and prostrates, then stands for the second rak'ah because this is the beginning of his prayer, so he also recites al-Fatihah and the surah aloud. What is the reason for this disagreement? There are other branches to it. Their disagreement lies in their understanding of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): The majority relied on this hadith, where the Messenger explicitly named what will come of the prayer after he separates from the imam, saying: The Hanafis answered by saying that the intent here is completing the prayer in the manner of making it up, evidenced by the fact that there is a narration, which is indeed authentic: Here is the point: they interpreted "make it up" here in the jurisprudential sense. But no, if we recall the previous verse, we would find that the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in the other narration, , means the same as his saying in the first narration, . The principle, as established in the principles of hadith and the principles of jurisprudence, is that when two hadiths come with two wordings or two narrations that appear to differ, one must reconcile them. The best reconciliation is to reconcile the two wordings, which in the language of the Arabs are synonymous, and not to establish a conflict or contradiction between them. We have learned from the texts of the verses that their meaning is "so complete it." Thus, his saying in the first narration, , means the same as his saying (peace be upon him) in the other narration, . So the two reports agree in meaning. The point of this is that we must be aware of technical terms and not consider them the original basis in the Arabic language by which we interpret the sacred texts. Oh Allah.