A traveler who did not pray the sunset prayer until the time of the night prayer passed by the people of a village while they were praying the night prayer, and another man from the village prayed with them intending the sunset prayer because he thought
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The questioner : A questioner says: A traveler ... until the time of the night prayer, then he passed by the people of a village while they were praying the night prayer, and another man from the village prayed with them intending the sunset prayer because he thought they were praying the sunset prayer. What is the situation of each of these two men? Please rule for us on this, mentioning the evidence, and may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and his Companions, and those who follow them. The truth is that we do not have a text regarding this specific issue about which the question was asked; rather, it is derived through a degree of deduction and independent legal reasoning. We say that it is established in the Sunnah that a difference in intention between the follower and the imam does not affect the validity of the prayer or the validity of following. For example, there is the case of Mu'adh ibn Jabal praying the night prayer behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then praying it with his people. As stated in Sahih al-Bukhari, it was a voluntary prayer for him and an obligatory prayer for those behind him. Also, there are some authentic hadiths regarding one of the ways the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the prayer of fear with his Companions. Among these is that he would pray two units with the first group, then say the closing salam with them, and they would then move to the ranks of the other group so that they could come and pray two units behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Naturally, the first two units would be the obligatory prayer for the Messenger (peace be upon him), while the two units with the other group would be a voluntary prayer. There may be other examples that I do not recall at this moment. We must also mention here the incident of that Bedouin who was working in the open during the day and would come in the evening to pray behind Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him). One day, when he followed him in the night prayer and heard him begin reciting Surat al-Baqarah, he thought, or it was suggested to him, that this recitation would be long, and very long for him. So he broke off the prayer behind Mu'adh and prayed alone. If we look at these texts, we can then say that the prayer of this traveler or that resident who followed the imam while he was praying the night prayer, and each of them assumed he was praying the sunset prayer, and it became clear to him that he was actually praying the night prayer, is as follows: In this case, if he catches the imam in the first unit, then when the imam stands up for the fourth unit, each of them should intend to separate and break off following the imam, so that he sits for the final tashahhud at the end of the third unit for him. He then says the salam, then stands up and follows the imam for whatever of the night prayer he catches up with. This is what appears to me as the answer to this question. Yes.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and his Companions, and those who follow them. The truth is that we do not have a text regarding this specific issue about which the question was asked; rather, it is derived through a degree of deduction and independent legal reasoning. We say that it is established in the Sunnah that a difference in intention between the follower and the imam does not affect the validity of the prayer or the validity of following. For example, there is the case of Mu'adh ibn Jabal praying the night prayer behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then praying it with his people. As stated in Sahih al-Bukhari, it was a voluntary prayer for him and an obligatory prayer for those behind him. Also, there are some authentic hadiths regarding one of the ways the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the prayer of fear with his Companions. Among these is that he would pray two units with the first group, then say the closing salam with them, and they would then move to the ranks of the other group so that they could come and pray two units behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Naturally, the first two units would be the obligatory prayer for the Messenger (peace be upon him), while the two units with the other group would be a voluntary prayer. There may be other examples that I do not recall at this moment. We must also mention here the incident of that Bedouin who was working in the open during the day and would come in the evening to pray behind Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him). One day, when he followed him in the night prayer and heard him begin reciting Surat al-Baqarah, he thought, or it was suggested to him, that this recitation would be long, and very long for him. So he broke off the prayer behind Mu'adh and prayed alone. If we look at these texts, we can then say that the prayer of this traveler or that resident who followed the imam while he was praying the night prayer, and each of them assumed he was praying the sunset prayer, and it became clear to him that he was actually praying the night prayer, is as follows: In this case, if he catches the imam in the first unit, then when the imam stands up for the fourth unit, each of them should intend to separate and break off following the imam, so that he sits for the final tashahhud at the end of the third unit for him. He then says the salam, then stands up and follows the imam for whatever of the night prayer he catches up with. This is what appears to me as the answer to this question. Yes.