Is the intention of leading required for the imam in prayer, and if a man enters and finds a man praying, should he follow him, and is it prescribed to follow one who is making up a missed prayer?
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The questioner : This questioner says, “O honorable Shaykh, is the intention of leading required for the imam in prayer? And if a man enters and finds a man praying, should he follow him? And is it prescribed to follow one who is making up a missed prayer?”
The Shaykh : Yes. This contains three issues, or these three issues are contained in this passage. The first issue is: Is it required for the imam to intend to lead? The answer to that is that the well-known view in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) is that the imam must intend to lead. So if a person prays with another person and intends that he is his imam, but the other person did not intend to lead, then the prayer of the follower is not valid in this case, because one of the conditions of congregational prayer is that the imam intends to lead and the follower intends to follow.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Some scholars said that it is valid to follow a person even if he did not intend to lead, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once prayed alone in Ramadan, and a partition was set up for him, so people prayed behind him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not stop them. But this does not indicate that the Messenger did not intend to lead, because he may have intended to lead when he became aware of them. The precaution is not to pray behind a person unless you know that he intended to lead. So if you enter the mosque and see a person praying alone, stand beside him and say, “You are my imam.” And if you do not say that and you say the takbir, then he should intend to be your imam so that the congregation is established. This is the second issue in this, or the second part of this question, which is: If a person enters the mosque and finds a person praying, should he join him? The answer is that he joins him, and the prayer is valid as a congregation according to the stronger opinion. The evidence for this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) once stood up at night to pray, and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was sleeping near him. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) stood up and prayed alone, and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and prayed beside him, but he prayed on his left side. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) took his head from behind and placed him on his right side. This indicates the permissibility of intending to lead during the prayer. And what is established in voluntary prayer is established in obligatory prayer unless there is evidence to the contrary.
As for the third part of the question, it is: Does one follow a person who is making up what he missed of the prayer? The answer to this is that we say there is no harm in following a person who is making up what he missed of the prayer, just as if you entered and found that the imam had already said the taslim, and you found a man making up what he missed with his imam, and you joined him on the condition that he be your imam, then there is no harm in that. But it is better to leave it, because the apparent state of the Companions is that they did not do this when they missed some of the prayer. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. An Egyptian brother says, “O honorable Shaykh, in the Friday prayer or the festivals, our mosque fills up with worshippers, so some of them pray in the streets and roads following the imam. What is the ruling on that? Are they rewarded?”
The Shaykh : The ruling on that is that it is permissible. That is, if the mosque fills up and people pray in the markets around the mosque, and they are able to follow the imam because there is a loudspeaker in the mosque, then there is no harm, because this is a dire necessity, and dire necessity has its own rulings. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes. This contains three issues, or these three issues are contained in this passage. The first issue is: Is it required for the imam to intend to lead? The answer to that is that the well-known view in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) is that the imam must intend to lead. So if a person prays with another person and intends that he is his imam, but the other person did not intend to lead, then the prayer of the follower is not valid in this case, because one of the conditions of congregational prayer is that the imam intends to lead and the follower intends to follow.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Some scholars said that it is valid to follow a person even if he did not intend to lead, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once prayed alone in Ramadan, and a partition was set up for him, so people prayed behind him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not stop them. But this does not indicate that the Messenger did not intend to lead, because he may have intended to lead when he became aware of them. The precaution is not to pray behind a person unless you know that he intended to lead. So if you enter the mosque and see a person praying alone, stand beside him and say, “You are my imam.” And if you do not say that and you say the takbir, then he should intend to be your imam so that the congregation is established. This is the second issue in this, or the second part of this question, which is: If a person enters the mosque and finds a person praying, should he join him? The answer is that he joins him, and the prayer is valid as a congregation according to the stronger opinion. The evidence for this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) once stood up at night to pray, and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was sleeping near him. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) stood up and prayed alone, and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and prayed beside him, but he prayed on his left side. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) took his head from behind and placed him on his right side. This indicates the permissibility of intending to lead during the prayer. And what is established in voluntary prayer is established in obligatory prayer unless there is evidence to the contrary.
As for the third part of the question, it is: Does one follow a person who is making up what he missed of the prayer? The answer to this is that we say there is no harm in following a person who is making up what he missed of the prayer, just as if you entered and found that the imam had already said the taslim, and you found a man making up what he missed with his imam, and you joined him on the condition that he be your imam, then there is no harm in that. But it is better to leave it, because the apparent state of the Companions is that they did not do this when they missed some of the prayer. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. An Egyptian brother says, “O honorable Shaykh, in the Friday prayer or the festivals, our mosque fills up with worshippers, so some of them pray in the streets and roads following the imam. What is the ruling on that? Are they rewarded?”
The Shaykh : The ruling on that is that it is permissible. That is, if the mosque fills up and people pray in the markets around the mosque, and they are able to follow the imam because there is a loudspeaker in the mosque, then there is no harm, because this is a dire necessity, and dire necessity has its own rulings. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.