If the imam stands up for the fifth rak'ah in a four-rak'ah prayer, does the ma'mum stand up with him and follow him, or not?

The questioner : O Shaykh, please clarify the issue of when the imam stands up for the fifth rak'ah...

The Shaykh : If the imam stands up for the fifth, what then?

The questioner : Do the followers follow him?

The Shaykh : This is not it; we have finished discussing it. My brother, did he hit the mark or miss?

The questioner: ...

The Shaykh : This is a different matter. The imam was appointed to be followed. Do not rush your companion, for I see that after he became convinced, or perhaps he has questions in his mind about the same topic. Why is he not the same?

The questioner : O our Shaykh, here he brought an extra rak'ah, and we know that this rak'ah is extra. How do we follow him in it?

The Shaykh : Is it more than that he made a mistake?

The questioner : He made a mistake, without a doubt.

The Shaykh : I am asking you whether he made a mistake or not. May Allah guide you. Tell me, may Allah guide you. Have you learned, yes or no? I am telling you, is it more than him making a mistake? Say no. Do you see the difference between saying "no" and saying "he made a mistake"? "No" is a negation, and "he made a mistake" is an affirmation. The answer must be a negation, not an affirmation. May Allah help me, what is my business with his many mistakes?
Al-Halabi : May Allah help us with you, O our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : This is a mistake. He brought an extra rak'ah, just like one who missed a rak'ah. Now, let me turn the example around on you. The imam said the taslim at the end of the third rak'ah, and he is in a four-rak'ah prayer. You did not say the taslim; you held yourself back for a moment, but you said to him: Subhan Allah. Perhaps you repeated the tasbih to the extent that some extremists would say to you that your prayer is invalid. Why? Because in your repetition, it is as if you are saying, "I did not understand; I still have one left." I am telling you, Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah. He did not respond to you. What are you doing?

The questioner : I will bring the three.

The Shaykh : Good. Are you speaking about yourself, or about others?

The questioner : Some people...

The Shaykh : You did not answer me. Are we speaking about you?

The questioner : ... An incomprehensible word.

The Shaykh : This is the answer. We are speaking about you, hehehe. This is what we fear with him, so you say the taslim with him. When you said the taslim with him, were you not certain that he was mistaken and that you still had a rak'ah left?

The questioner : Yes, exactly.

The Shaykh : Why did you say the taslim?

The questioner : To follow him.

The Shaykh : To follow him. Well, if correcting the situation, how will it be?

The questioner : When I say the taslim, I indicate to him that he has one rak'ah left, as Dhul-Yadayn did with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : Well done. If what you were afraid of in the prayer happened outside the prayer, but you are in the prayer, correct? This is like that. He came with a warning, and he did not come with a warning. He is outside the prayer and he is in the prayer. Or is this hadith permissible during the prayer?

The questioner : Yes, exactly.

The Shaykh : It is not permissible. But the Shafi'i jurists have a beautiful statement regarding the prayer, even though they fell into another deviation. May Allah guide us and them. They limited the words to five or six, which I have forgotten. If they exceed them, the prayer is invalid. The point is, you do not follow him in order to fulfill the command of the Messenger. After you say the taslim... at that time, the imam corrects the situation, and you correct it with him, and the problem is solved. And Allah is sufficient for the believers in battle. If the problem is not solved by the method of not following the imam alone, no, there is another method: it is the method of following the imam, then pointing out the mistake in the face, in frankness, then returning to complete the prayer. Likewise, if he prayed five rak'ahs, we stand up with him, he prays five and says the taslim to the right and to the left. We say to him, "O Shaykh, you prayed five rak'ahs. Is that correct, everyone?" "Yes, by Allah." "Allahu Akbar." He prostrates two prostrations and says the taslim twice, and Allah is sufficient for the believers in battle, and the matter is finished. And the rak'ah that you added with him does not go to waste. It is recorded with recitation, with tasbih, with takbir. Each one has a reward with Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, even if it came as a mistake, yes.

The questioner : O our Shaykh, the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and in a narration , what is the aspect that you preferred from the Shafi'is, or some of the Shafi'is, regarding the six words they mentioned?

The Shaykh : Yes, we are speaking about the words of people, meaning saying "take," "give," "go," "come," and so on. This is the words of people. As for the words that involve correcting the prayer, this occurred from the Messenger in the story of Dhul-Yadayn... until the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Is Dhul-Yadayn truthful?" They said: "Yes." So this is speech, but this speech was not like the words of people; rather, it was to correct the prayer, which the Messenger (peace be upon him) pointed out that he had prayed two rak'ahs instead of four. I now want to apologize to you because the time has ended... and I now have to leave and catch up with the prayer in my country, because because of the pain in my knee, I must prepare, and if Allah wills, the question is not long.

The questioner : No, it is not long.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.