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The Latecomer and the Fatiha

Answered as per Shafi'i Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher

A follower joins the prayer and makes the opening takbir.  A few seconds later, the imam goes into ruku‘.  Is the follower still responsible for the fatiha, or can he just follow the imam without reciting the fatiha?

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

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

The Upshot

What you should do depends on whether you did anything other than recite the fatiha after performing your opening Allahu Akbar. There are two cases to consider.

Case 1: You began reciting the fatiha immediately after your opening Allahu Akbar . In this case, you should cut short your recitation and follow the imam by making ruku’. The portion of the fatiha that you did not have time to recite is no longer obligatory on you.

Case 2: You did not begin reciting the fatiha immediately after your opening Allahu Akbar (for example, you may have busied yourself with saying the opening supplication (wajjahtu wajhi … etc.) or the ta’awwudh (a’udhu billahi min al-shaytani’l-rajim) before starting the fatiha). In this case, you must continue to recite the fatiha until you have recited an amount equivalent to the sunna supplication that you recited before beginning the fatiha, and then join the imam in ruku’.

The Detail

Let’s return now to the two cases described above and analyze them in more detail.

Case 1: The latecomer begins reciting the fatiha immediately after his opening Allahu Akbar.

If the imam goes into ruku’ before the latecomer has time to completely recite the fatiha, the obligation of reciting the rest of the fatiha is carried by the imam. Since it is obligatory for the latecomer to follow the imam and not obligatory for him to recite the remainder of the fatiha, he should cut short his recitation and make ruku’ with the imam.

What if the latecomer decides to lag behind and complete reciting the fatiha before following the imam?

If the latecomer does not immediately follow the imam by performing the ruku’, he has performed something blameworthy (either disliked or forbidden, depending on various other factors). His prayer, however, is not yet invalidated. If he is able to finish reciting and make ruku’ with the imam, then everything is OK. If the imam starts rising before the latecomer has time to make ruku’ with him, then the latecomer is considered to have missed this rak’a and must make it up after the imam gives salams (i.e., it is as if he had joined the imam after the ruku’). In this case, the latecomer must skip the ruku’ (performing it would invalidate his prayer) and follow the imam in the standing after the ruku’ (i’tidal). If he does not do this and continues to recite until the imam starts going down for prostration, his prayer is invalidated.

Case 2: The latecomer does not begin reciting the fatiha immediately after his opening Allahu Akbar.

In this case, the latecomer was negligent by not immediately beginning his recitation of the fatiha and must make up for his negligence before joining the imam in ruku’. He does this by estimating the number of letters of the sunna supplications he recited and then reciting the equivalent number of letters of the fatiha.

To illustrate this more clearly, suppose that the latecomer says his opening Allahu Akbar, spends some time reciting some of the opening supplication, and then begins reciting the fatiha. If the imam makes ruku’ before the follower is able to complete his recitation of the fatiha, the latecomer must first estimate the number of letters of the opening supplication he recited. Let’s assume that he estimates 30 letters. He must now continue reciting until he is confident that he has recited 30 additional letters of the fatiha.

If the latecomer finishes the necessary additional recital of the fatiha and catches the imam while he is still in ruku’, he has caught the rak’a and continues praying as normal.

What if the latecomer completes the necessary recital after the imam rises up from ruku’?

Just like in Case 1, the latecomer is considered to have missed this rak’a and must make it up after the imam gives salams (i.e., it is as if he had joined the imam after the ruku’). Once again, he should now no longer perform the ruku’ but rather follow the imam in the standing after the ruku’ (i’tidal).

What if the imam starts going down for prostration before the latecomer has time to complete the necessary recital?

In order to keep his prayer from becoming invalid, the follower must intend to cease following the imam and complete his prayer on his own.

(Fath al-‘Allam, 2.454-458; Nihayat al-Muhtaj[link below]; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj [link below])

And Allah knows best.

Hamza.

Nihaya URL

http://feqh.al-islam.com/Display.asp?Mode=1&MaksamID=134&Sharh=1&DocID=71&ParagraphID=515&HitNo=88&Source=0&SearchString=G%24158%23%E3%D3%C8%E6%DE%230%232%230%23%23%23%23%23&Diacratic=0

Tuhfa URL

http://feqh.al-islam.com/Display.asp?Mode=1&MaksamID=27&Sharh=1&DocID=69&ParagraphID=544&HitNo=96&Source=0&SearchString=G%24158%23%E3%D3%C8%E6%DE%230%232%230%23%23%23%23%23&Diacratic=0

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