If a person begins a voluntary prayer and then the call for the obligatory prayer is made, should he break it off or complete it?

The questioner : There is a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that says So one of the brothers was answering and saying if it is after the second rak'ah, let him complete it. So up to what limit, from which rak'ah, does he exit his prayer? Does he say the taslim or not? May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : Your question contains two questions. As for the answer to the first question, the truth is that this issue is among the most delicate issues, and that is because it varies from one person praying a voluntary prayer to another...

The questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Welcome. It varies from one person praying a voluntary prayer to another, and from one imam of a mosque to another. The person praying a voluntary prayer may be at the beginning of his prayer, he may be at the end of his prayer, and he may be somewhere in between. There are many images. This is why there is precision in the issue. Then this is regarding the person praying a voluntary prayer. As for the imam, there may be an imam like our imam on Friday, Abu Malik, may Allah increase him in knowledge and success, who does not make the iqamah for the prayer until the rows are straightened and until he reminds the people, "Do not precede me with the ameen." For the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say So if there is an imam known to the person praying a voluntary prayer that he does not start with the takbir of ihram immediately after the mu'adhdhin finishes the iqamah, but rather there is an application of the sunnah of straightening the rows, there is no doubt that this image will differ from another imam who adheres to the literal wording of the Hanafi madhhab and says that the mustahabb or the sunnah is that when the mu'adhdhin says "The prayer has begun," the imam immediately says "Allahu Akbar." Look, here it is not possible to say "break the prayer" or "complete the prayer" without any detail. The summary of this detail is to say to the person praying a voluntary prayer, and this is after the previous detail: if it is more likely in your opinion that you will catch the imam's takbir at the opening of the prayer, then complete your prayer and there is nothing upon you. And if it is more likely in your opinion that you will miss the takbir of ihram, then break off the prayer. And the answer to the second question is without the salam, because here the prayer is invalidated automatically. So now the mu'adhdhin has started the iqamah for the prayer, and he knows that the imam is of the Hanafi madhhab and is strict, and he does not make the iqamah for the prayer until he says the takbir for the prayer, until the mu'adhdhin says "The prayer has begun, the prayer has begun." He has left this person praying a voluntary prayer with nothing but to say "As-salamu alaykum." So let him say "As-salamu alaykum," because certainly, with this narrow image of this imam's eagerness to hasten and rush to the takbir, he will not miss the takbir. It is clear. And there are many other images, and every person is as Allah the Exalted said .

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, Shaykh.