Explanation of the Book of the Adhan-05a

The Reciter: Al-Bukhari narrated to us, and 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah said: Ibrahim ibn Sa'd narrated to us from his father from Hafs ibn 'Asim from 'Abd Allah ibn Malik ibn Buhaynah, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a man. He said: And 'Abd al-Rahman narrated to me, saying: Bahz ibn Asad narrated to us, saying: Shu'bah narrated to us, saying: Sa'd ibn Ibrahim informed me, saying: I heard Hafs ibn 'Asim say: I heard a man from the Azd tribe, whose name was Malik ibn Buhaynah, say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man who was praying two rak'ahs while the prayer had been announced. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) finished, the people mocked him, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Ghandar and Mu'adh followed him from Shu'bah regarding Malik. And Ibn Ishaq said from Sa'd from Hafs from 'Abd Allah ibn Buhaynah. And Hammad said: Sa'd informed us from Hafs from Malik.

The Shaykh : Al-Bukhari: It appears, and Allah knows best, that the hadith narrated with the wording of the title is not authentic according to his conditions. And Muslim narrated it from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And his statement "except the obligatory one" means the one for which the iqamah has been announced, as that also came in the narration of Imam Ahmad: And his statement "when the prayer has been announced, there is no prayer"—is the prohibition here regarding starting the prayer, or regarding starting it and continuing in it? The apparent meaning is the latter: regarding starting it and continuing in it. That means it is not permissible for a person, after the iqamah for the obligatory prayer, to pray a voluntary prayer, neither starting it nor continuing it. This is the apparent meaning of the hadith with this wording, and it is also apparent in the hadith of Malik ibn Buhaynah, where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man praying while the prayer had been announced, praying two rak'ahs. Its apparent meaning is that this man had started on his own, so he said to him: And this interrogative is for rebuke, meaning how do you pray the Fajr prayer as four? And the scholars differed on this issue. Some said that when the prayer is announced, the voluntary prayer becomes invalid, becoming invalid merely by the iqamah, based on his statement: And this negation is in the sense of prohibition, covering both starting and continuing. And some said that it does not cover continuing, and that a person may continue in the voluntary prayer even if he misses a rak'ah or two, provided he catches the takbirat al-ihram with the imam before the salam. This is the well-known position in the madhhab. And what appears in this issue is that if the prayer has been announced and the person is in the second rak'ah, he should complete it briefly. And if he is in the first, he should cut it off, based on the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): So if he is in the second rak'ah, he has caught this voluntary prayer at a time when it is permissible for him to pray, so he continues in the voluntary prayer. But if the iqamah is announced and you are in the first rak'ah, even in the second prostration of it, cut it off and join the imam. As for the one who said that it is not cut off absolutely, except if he fears missing it with the takbirat al-ihram, citing the statement of the Exalted: This is not a correct argument. His argument with this verse is not correct, because his statement regarding apostasy, for it is that which invalidates deeds. And likewise, charity, if one is arrogant with it or harms the one to whom charity is given, then its reward is invalidated. The important point is that the meaning is not "do not cut it off." Then we say that if a man cuts off the voluntary prayer to enter the obligatory one, he has moved from the lesser to the greater. Yes.