The Ruling on Catching Up with the Imam While He Is Bowing

Question:
From Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz to the honorable brother, Mr. 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, and after that:
Your honorable letter has arrived, along with the questions it contains. Here is the text of the question and the answer:
Q 1: What is your opinion regarding one who catches up with the imam while he is bowing and joins him in the bowing? Is that rak'ah counted or not?

Answer:
The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, differed on this issue, with two opinions:
One of the two views is that this rak'ah is not counted, because reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory and he did not perform it. This view is reported from Abu Hurayrah, and al-Bukhari preferred it in his book, *Juz' al-Qira'ah* (The Part on Recitation). It is also attributed to everyone who holds that reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory for the ma'mum (one praying behind the imam), as stated in *Awn al-Ma'bud*. This view 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 view is that it is counted. Al-Hafiz Ibn Abd al-Barr reported it from Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Zayd ibn Thabit, and Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). He also reported it from the majority of scholars, including the four imams, al-Awza'i, al-Thawri, Ishaq, and Abu Thawr. Al-Shawkani preferred it in a separate treatise, which the author of *Awn al-Ma'bud* quoted from him.
This view is stronger in my opinion, based on 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. His statement in the hadith: means do not return to the bowing position without being in the row, because the Muslim is commanded to join the imam in prayer in whatever state he finds him.
Among the evidence of the majority for this is also 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: This hadith is a clear text supporting the view of the majority in several ways.
The first is his statement regarding prostration: "And do not go beyond it in anything," from which it is understood that one who catches up with the bowing is counted as having caught up with the rak'ah.
The second is that the term rak'ah, when mentioned alongside prostration, refers to the bowing, as seen in several hadiths. Among them is the hadith of al-Bara': "I observed the prayer with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and I found his standing to be like his bowing, and his standing after bowing to be like his prostration..." the hadith. And among them are the hadiths of the eclipse, where the Companions said: "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: This is a clear text that he intended by rak'ah the bowing.
The hadith of Abu Hurayrah mentioned above has come through two chains that strengthen each other, and the argument is established by them according to what is established in the terminology of hadith. It is further supported by the practice of the aforementioned Companions, which indicates what it implies.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *Sharh al-Muhadhdhab*, page 215, volume 4, after some preceding discussion, the text of which is: "And this which we have mentioned regarding catching up with the rak'ah by catching up with the bowing is the correct view, which al-Shafi'i stated explicitly, and which the majority of the companions and the majority of scholars said. The hadiths have converged on it, and the people have agreed upon it. There is a weak and refuted view that one does not catch up with the rak'ah, which the author of *al-Tatimmah* reported from the Imam of Imams, Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah, one of our greatest jurist-hadith scholars. Al-Rafi'i reported it from him, and from Abu Bakr al-Sayghi, one of our companions. The author of *al-Tatimmah* said: This is not correct, because the people of the ages agreed on catching up with it, so the disagreement of those after them is not considered." End of his statement.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar reported in *al-Talkhis* from Ibn Khuzaymah what indicates his agreement with the majority that the rak'ah is caught up with by catching up with the bowing. And Allah knows best.