Tuesday 22 March 2022

Should a Masbooq Count the Extra Rak’ah the Imaam Prayed Out Of Forgetfulness?

 

Shaykh ‘Abdullaah bin Saalih al-Fawzaan stated:

However, there remains an issue to be asked about and it is appropriate to mention it here:  Is it permissible for the masbooq (a latecomer or one who joins congregational prayer late) to count the extra rak’ah in respect of the Imaam and consider it a valid rak’ah for him? For example, the Imaam got up out of forgetfulness to perform the fifth rak’ah in a four rak’ah prayer like Zuhr or the fourth rak’ah in Maghrib prayer, and a ma’moom joined him in this  rak’ah without knowing that it is extra. Would it count for him that he has caught up with the congregational prayer?

The correct opinion among the sayings of the people of knowledge is that he should count it and consider it as part of his prayer, and it would be considered that he caught up with the congregational prayer, because he caught up a rak’ah with the Imaam. Despite the fact that it was an additional rak’ah in respect of the Imaam, he is excused of the addition because he did not do it deliberately. It is valid with respect to the masbooq, because it part of his original prayer. If we say he should not count it, such would necessitate the permissibility of deliberately adding a rak’ah to the prayer, and this would nullify the prayer according to consensus of the scholars. This is because it necessitates that a person should pray four rak’ah prayer as five rak’ah and Maghrib prayer as four rak’ah, and this would necessitate contravention of consensus of the scholars and opposition of sharee’ah proofs, and this is not right.

Source: Ahkaam Hudoor al-Masaajid, p. 159 by Shaykh Abdullaah bin Saalih al-Fawzaan; translated by Abdus-Samee Abdus-Salaam.

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