Assalam O Alaikum, One day I joined Imam in third raka’t of Zuhr prayer, Imam said salam and I stood up for remaining raka’ts. In the mean time muqtadi’s said that namaz is nullified due to wrong number of raka’t were offered. So, imam stood up again for prayer and all the muqtadis stoop up to follow him. Now, my question is, is it right for me to break the niyat and join the imam? Should we recite “sami Allah Huliman Hamida” and “RAbbana Lakal hamd” both behind the imam or not? Can we recite “Sure Fatiha” behind imam in our heart not by toungue? Please reply soon.
Answer
(Fatwa: 437/348/H=1431)
(1) Yes, it was right, as the salah you offered with imam was nullified, and his salah was nullified, yours also became invalid.
(2) It is enough to say: ربنا لك الحمد
(3) There is no harm if read in heart.
Allah (Subhana Wa Ta’ala) knows Best
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband