Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Does going ahead of the imam break your salah? My dad is the imam, and he says the takbeer, and then goes down, not while doing it, so i happened to go past, him and was in sajdah before him. Does this invalidate it?
Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.
No, what you mention would not invalidate the prayer as long as he prostrated whilst you were still in prostration.
If you came up from the prostration before the imam prostrated, and did not repeat the prostration (i.e. with him), your prayer would be invalidated.
[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; `Ala’ al-Din `Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-`Ala’iyya]
The basis is that the imam is followed in all actions of the prayer.
And Allah alone gives success.
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Imam Outpacing Followers in Congregational Prayer
Wassalam
Tabraze Azam