Ruling on joining the congregation for one who arrives during the final tashahhud

Question:
The first message in this episode is from one of our brother listeners. He says: The one who loves in Allah, Abdullah Abd al-Rahman Sulayman Rahfah. Our brother began his message as follows: Your Eminence, Shaykh Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baz (may Allah preserve him)... Ameen. Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
My question is: I came to perform the obligatory prayer at the time of the 'Asr prayer and found the imam in the final tashahhud, near its end. Some companions came with me wanting what I wanted, and I asked them to establish a new congregation since the imam was about to conclude the prayer with the taslim. They agreed, and we established the prayer as a congregation of more than three or four people. However, the imam and some of the brother worshippers objected to us after the prayer and asked us to perform the prayer with them, even if the imam was in the final tashahhud and near its end. They cited the hadith which means: . I told them that my understanding of this hadith is that if a man comes to the mosque, he must proceed with calmness and dignity, follow the imam in what he catches up with, and make up what he missed.
From my side, I told them that one who does not catch up with the last rak'ah of the obligatory prayer obtains the reward of the congregation, but he does not catch up with the prayer itself. If he completes it, he completes it alone. As for us, praise be to Allah, we caught up with the virtue of the obligatory prayer in congregation and the virtue of the prayer congregation. I ask you to clarify the matter to us according to the command of Allah and His Messenger in this. We ask Allah for your success, that He grants you correctness, and that He keeps you away from error and mistakes. Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.

Answer:
There is no doubt that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said this. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The implication of this hadith is that if one arrives while the imam is in the tahiyyat, he should join him, because he caught up with him in the prayer. However, he does not obtain the virtue of the congregation unless he catches up with a rak'ah, because in another hadith it says: .
As for joining him wherever he finds him, that is the apparent meaning of the hadith, even if it is in the tahiyyat. Joining the imam in the prayer before he says the taslim is the most preferable and closest to the apparent generality. However, if they prayed as a congregation and did not join him, I do not know of any blame in this; because the virtue of the congregation has been missed, and only a small part of the prayer remains. But out of respect for the Sunnah, and for the apparent Sunnah, and as a precaution for the religion, what I see and issue as a ruling is that it is better for the believer, if he arrives in such a situation and the imam is in the tashahhud, to join him, even if they are a number. They join him, sit, and recite whatever of the tahiyyat is possible for them, then they stand up after the taslim and make up what is due on them. This is the most cautious and most apparent course of action, in accordance with the generality of the hadith. But for one who prayed as a congregation and did not join the imam, I do not see any strictness in his case; because he has a doubt; because the prayer has ended, and only a little remains of it, so there is no reason for strictness in this. Allah is the Helper.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.