What is the ruling if a traveler joins the resident imam in the final tashahhud? Does he complete the prayer or shorten it?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, if a traveler joins a resident imam in the final tashahhud, is it permissible for him to complete the prayer or shorten it? What is the best course of action, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : If a traveler joins the resident imam while he is in the final tashahhud, he is obligated to complete the prayer, due to the generality of the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 635.
And "what" is a conditional particle that encompasses whatever one catches, whether a little or a lot.Sahih al-Bukhari 635.
So this man who joined in the final tashahhud caught the final tashahhud and prayed. When the imam says the taslim, it is obligatory for him to complete what preceded this. This is the implication of the hadith. Even though some scholars said: if one catches less than a rak'ah, he is not obligated to complete it because he did not catch the prayer. We say: the hadith is generalSahih al-Bukhari 635.
The Shaykh : If a traveler joins the resident imam while he is in the final tashahhud, he is obligated to complete the prayer, due to the generality of the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
and pray whatever you get (with the people) and complete the rest which you have missed
فما أدركتم فصلوا وما فاتكم فأتمواAnd "what" is a conditional particle that encompasses whatever one catches, whether a little or a lot.
and pray whatever you get (with the people) and complete the rest which you have missed
فما أدركتم فصلوا وما فاتكم فأتمواSo this man who joined in the final tashahhud caught the final tashahhud and prayed. When the imam says the taslim, it is obligatory for him to complete what preceded this. This is the implication of the hadith. Even though some scholars said: if one catches less than a rak'ah, he is not obligated to complete it because he did not catch the prayer. We say: the hadith is general