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Should one join a congregation in progress or pray the pre-fard sunna first?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

If one walks into the university prayer room or mosque and has not prayed the 4 sunnah of dhuhr, should he join the congregation if it is already in progress?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam,

1. Definitely. One should join the congregation, for it is more strongly emphasized than the pre-fard sunna prayer, and then pray the pre-fard sunna after the obligatory prayer, except at Fajr and Asr times. At these two times, it is not permitted to pray any non-obligatory prayers after the obligatory one. [Shurunbulali, Imdad al-Fattah Sharh Nur al-Idah; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

2. At Fajr time, however, one should pray the pre-fard sunna even if the congregation is in progress, but only if sure that one will catch the congregation before the imam’s final salams. [ibid.]

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam,

Faraz Rabbani

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.