One Who Catches the Imam Bowing and Joins Him in the Bowing

Q: From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the honorable brother M. A. S. May Allah guide me and him to understanding the Sunnah and the Qur'an. Amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that: Your honorable letter has arrived, along with the matters of knowledge it contains. Here is the text of the question and the answer:
First: What is your ruling on one who catches the imam bowing and joins him in the bowing? Is that rak'ah counted or not?

A: The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, differed on this issue, with two opinions:
The first is: That rak'ah is not counted, because reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory and he did not perform it. This opinion is reported from Abu Hurayrah, and al-Bukhari preferred it in his book (Juz' al-Qira'ah), attributing it to everyone who holds that reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory for the ma'mum, as stated in (Awn al-Ma'bud). This opinion is also reported from Ibn Khuzaymah and a group of the Shafi'is, and al-Shawkani preferred it in (al-Nayl), elaborating on its evidence.
The second opinion is that it is taken into account. Al-Hafiz Ibn 'Abd al-Barr reported this from 'Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Zayd ibn Thabit, and Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), and he also reported it from the majority of the scholars, including the four imams, al-Awza'i, al-Thawri, Ishaq, and Abu Thawr. Al-Shawkani preferred this opinion in a separate treatise, which the author of (Awn al-Ma'bud) quoted from him.
This opinion is stronger in my view, due to the hadith of Abu Bakrah in al-Bukhari, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order him to make up the rak'ah. If it had been obligatory upon him, he would have ordered him to do so, because delaying clarification until after the time of need is not permissible. And his statement in the hadith: means do not return to the bowing without the row; because the Muslim is commanded to join the imam in prayer in whatever state he finds him.
And among the evidence of the majority for this is what Abu Dawud, Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Daraqutni, and al-Bayhaqi narrated from Abu Hurayrah, traced to the Prophet: And in a wording by Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Daraqutni, and al-Bayhaqi: So this hadith is a clear text supporting the opinion of the majority in several ways:
The first is: His statement (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding prostration: From this it is understood that one who catches the bowing is counted as having caught it.
The second is: That the term rak'ah, when mentioned with prostration, is intended to mean the bowing, as that came in hadiths, including the hadith of al-Bara': (I observed the prayer with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and found his standing, then his bowing, then his straightening after his bowing, then his prostration) the hadith. And including the hadiths of the eclipse and the statement of the Companions therein: (The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed four rak'ahs in four prostrations), meaning four bowings.
The third aspect is: His statement in the narration of Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Daraqutni, and al-Bayhaqi which is a clear text that he intended by rak'ah the bowing.
The aforementioned hadith of Abu Hurayrah came from two chains, one strengthening the other, and the proof is established by them according to what is established in the terminology of hadith, and it is supported by the practice of the Companions who mentioned the prayer, as indicated by it.
And al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said in Sharh al-Muhadhdhab, page (215) (Volume 4), after preceding discussion, his text is: (And this which we have mentioned - that catching the rak'ah is by catching the bowing - is the correct opinion which al-Shafi'i stated explicitly and which the majority of the companions and the majority of the scholars said, and the hadiths converged on it, and the people agreed upon it. And in it is a weak, refuted view that one does not catch the rak'ah, reported by the author of al-Tatimmah from the Imam of Imams Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah, one of our greatest jurist-hadith scholars. And al-Rafi'i reported it from him and from Abu Bakr al-Sabighi from our companions. And the author of al-Tatimmah said: This is not correct; because the people of the cities agreed on catching it by this, so the disagreement of those after them is not counted.) End of his statement.
And al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar reported in (al-Talkhis) from Ibn Khuzaymah what indicates his agreement with the majority that the rak'ah is caught by catching the bowing. And Allah knows best.