I came to Makkah after the 'Isha' prayer and had not prayed Maghrib, and I joined the imam for the tarawih prayer, so I prayed Maghrib and then prayed 'Isha' shortened. Is the shortening valid?
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The Shaykh : What benefits us with the damma.
The questioner : What benefits us.
The Shaykh : Yes, he says:The questioner : I came to Makkah after the 'Isha' prayer and had not prayed Maghrib, and I joined the imam in the tarawih prayer, so I prayed Maghrib and then prayed 'Isha' shortened. Is the shortening valid?
The Shaykh : Did he pray Maghrib alone, or did he join the imam? Okay?
The question is that he says he entered the mosque while the imam was praying tarawih, and he had not prayed Maghrib or 'Isha', so he joined the imam in the tarawih prayer with the intention of Maghrib. Here, if he joined the imam in the first rak'ah and the imam concluded the prayer, what does he make up?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : One rak'ah. He makes up one rak'ah because he prayed two rak'ahs with the imam, so he made up one rak'ah, which is the Maghrib prayer. And he joined the imam again for the 'Isha' prayer, so he prayed two rak'ahs with the imam. Does he make up anything after that? No, because the traveler prays 'Isha' two rak'ahs. So if he prays with the imam in the tarawih prayer from the first rak'ah, he concludes the prayer with him, and that completes the 'Isha' prayer.
But an objector might object to us and say: How do you validate how do you validate the Maghrib prayer, or praying 'Isha' behind the tarawih, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 722 And this is a difference, because the one who enters intends something other than what the imam intends. The one who enters intends what? An obligatory prayer, and the imam is praying a voluntary prayer. And this is a contradiction. We say to him: What do you say if a person enters a voluntary prayer behind an imam who is praying Fajr? He says: This is valid, there is no obstacle. So we say: Now there is a difference, the follower is what? Praying a voluntary prayer, and the imam is praying an obligatory prayer. He says: This is permissible, because the imam's prayer is higher than the follower's prayer, and it is permissible to pray the lower behind the higher, and the reverse. We said: Now you have refuted your reason, and you reasoned with another reason. So it becomes clear by this that there is no obstacle to a person praying an obligatory prayer behind a voluntary prayer. And this is indicated by that it is a voluntary prayer for him and an obligatory prayer for them. And this was in the time of whom? In the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). But a student of knowledge might say: This is not evidence, because perhaps the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know about it, and the Messenger does not know the unseen.
So we say in answer to this: If we assume that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know about it, then Allah the Exalted and Majestic knew about it. And if this had not been permissible, Allah would have clarified it. For this reason, Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We were practicing coitus interruptus while the Qur'an was being revealed" meaning, if coitus interruptus had been forbidden, the Qur'an would have prohibited it. And this is indicated by the fact that Allah the Exalted and Majestic said in His Book:[An-Nisa 4:108] So these people were hiding, and the Messenger did not see them, nor did anyone else. But because they were hiding in something that Allah does not approve of, Allah exposed them. So if Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) had been doing what Allah does not approve of, Allah the Exalted and Majestic would have clarified it. And this is a principle that a student of knowledge should understand. Often we argue with the approval of the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him) of something, and this is clear if he witnessed it or knew about it. But if we do not know that he witnessed it and we do not know that he knew about it, we may infer from what was done in his time that it is permissible or prescribed. Why? Because if we assume that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know about it, then who knew about it? Allah. And if it had been something Allah did not approve of, He would have clarified it.
So we take from this that it is permissible for one who is praying an obligatory prayer to pray behind one who is praying a voluntary prayer, and that it is also permissible to pray an obligatory prayer behind another obligatory prayer, and there is no evidence for prohibiting this. And what I mentioned is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). And Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, I say truthfully, is a man to whom Allah the Exalted gave knowledge, understanding, intellect, and religion—four things: knowledge, understanding, intellect, and religion. For this reason, you will find that his choices, mostly, the great majority, are in agreement with the correct opinion, are in agreement with the correct opinion. And Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) explicitly stated that it is permissible for a person to pray the 'Isha' prayer behind one who is praying the tarawih prayer. Yes.
The questioner : What benefits us.
The Shaykh : Yes, he says:The questioner : I came to Makkah after the 'Isha' prayer and had not prayed Maghrib, and I joined the imam in the tarawih prayer, so I prayed Maghrib and then prayed 'Isha' shortened. Is the shortening valid?
The Shaykh : Did he pray Maghrib alone, or did he join the imam? Okay?
The question is that he says he entered the mosque while the imam was praying tarawih, and he had not prayed Maghrib or 'Isha', so he joined the imam in the tarawih prayer with the intention of Maghrib. Here, if he joined the imam in the first rak'ah and the imam concluded the prayer, what does he make up?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : One rak'ah. He makes up one rak'ah because he prayed two rak'ahs with the imam, so he made up one rak'ah, which is the Maghrib prayer. And he joined the imam again for the 'Isha' prayer, so he prayed two rak'ahs with the imam. Does he make up anything after that? No, because the traveler prays 'Isha' two rak'ahs. So if he prays with the imam in the tarawih prayer from the first rak'ah, he concludes the prayer with him, and that completes the 'Isha' prayer.
But an objector might object to us and say: How do you validate how do you validate the Maghrib prayer, or praying 'Isha' behind the tarawih, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The Imam is (appointed) to be followed. So do not differ from him
إنما جعل الإمام ليؤتم به فلا تختلفوا عليهThat Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray the 'Isha' prayer with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then he would return to his people and pray with them the same prayer.
أن معاذ بن جبل رَضي الله عنه كان يصلي مع النبي صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلم صلاة العشاء ثم يرجع إلى قومه فيصلي بهم نفس الصلاةSo we say in answer to this: If we assume that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know about it, then Allah the Exalted and Majestic knew about it. And if this had not been permissible, Allah would have clarified it. For this reason, Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We were practicing coitus interruptus while the Qur'an was being revealed" meaning, if coitus interruptus had been forbidden, the Qur'an would have prohibited it. And this is indicated by the fact that Allah the Exalted and Majestic said in His Book:
They conceal [their evil intentions and deeds] from the people, but they cannot conceal [them] from Allah, and He is with them [in His knowledge] when they spend the night in such as He does not accept of speech
يستخفون من الناس ولا يستخفون من الله وهو معهم إذ يبيتون ما لا يرضى من القولSo we take from this that it is permissible for one who is praying an obligatory prayer to pray behind one who is praying a voluntary prayer, and that it is also permissible to pray an obligatory prayer behind another obligatory prayer, and there is no evidence for prohibiting this. And what I mentioned is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). And Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, I say truthfully, is a man to whom Allah the Exalted gave knowledge, understanding, intellect, and religion—four things: knowledge, understanding, intellect, and religion. For this reason, you will find that his choices, mostly, the great majority, are in agreement with the correct opinion, are in agreement with the correct opinion. And Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) explicitly stated that it is permissible for a person to pray the 'Isha' prayer behind one who is praying the tarawih prayer. Yes.