روي أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: إذا جئتم إلى الصلاة ونحن سجود فاسجدوا ولا تعدوها شيئا. ومن أدرك ركعة من الصلاة مع الإمام قبل أن يقيم الإمام صلبه فقد أدرك الصلاة إلا أنه يقضي ما فاته.

It is narrated that the Prophet (sws) said: “When you come to join salāh and find us in prostration,1 then you should join in the prostration but should not count this prostration as a part of your salāh.2 Whoever [joins late but] completes one rak‘ah of the salāh, while praying in congregation with the imam – before the imam straightens his back [from rukū‘]3 – would be considered as having offered his prayers with the congregation, except that he must complete the part of the salāh that he has missed4 [because of his late joining].”5 

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Notes on the Text of the Narrative

This narrative or a part of it, with minor variations, has been reported in Bukhārī (no. 555), Muslim (no. 607), Tirmidhī (No. 524), Nasā’ī (nos. 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558 and 1425), Abū Dā’ūd (Nos. 893 and 1121), Ibn Mājah (nos. 1121, 1122 and 1123), Mu’atta (nos. 15 and 238), Al-Dārimī (Nos. 1220 and 1221), Ahmad ibn Hanbal (nos. 7652, 7752 and 8870), Ibn Hibbān (No. 1483, 1485, 1486 and 1487), Ibn Khuzaymah (no. 1595, 1622, 1848, 1849, 1850 and 1851), Nasā’ī Sunan al-Kubrā (no. 1536, 1537, 1538, 1539, 1540, 1541, 1741 and 1742), Bayhaqī (no. 1684, 2407, 2408, 5522, 5523, 5524, 5525, 5526, 5527, 5528 and 5531), Musnad of Abū Ya‘lā (nos. 2625, 5962, 5966, 5967 and 5988) and Musnad al-Humaydī (no. 946). The preferred text is the one reported in Muslim (no. 607), except where otherwise specified.

The words إذا جئتم إلى الصلاة ونحن سجود فاسجدوا ولا تعدوها شيئا (When you come to join salāh and find us in prostration, then you should join in the prostration but should not count this prostration as a part of your salāh) have been reported in Abū Dā’ūd (no. 893).

In most of the variant reported texts of the narrative, the words مع الإمام (with the Imam) have been omitted, as, for instance, in Bukhārī (no. 555). However, these words have been reported in Muslim (no. 607).

The words قبل أن يقيم الإمام صلبه (before the imām straightens his back) are reported in Ibn Khuzaymah (no. 1595), which implies the time at which one may consider oneself as having completed a rak‘ah with the imam. This part implies that if a person joins the congregation while the imām was in rukū‘- before the time that the imam had straightened his back, rising from the rukū‘ - one would then be said to have completed the rak‘ah in which he had joined the congregation.

In some of the narratives, as for instance, in one of the other texts reported in Muslim (no. 607), the words فقد أدرك الصلاة (he would then be considered as having offered his prayers with the congregation) have been reported as فقد أدرك الصلاة كلها (he would then be considered to have completely offered his prayers). Similarly, in Nasā’ī (no. 557), these words have been replaced by فقد تمت صلاته (then his prayers are complete). These variants seem to be an error on the part of the narrators.

The words إلا أنه يقضي ما فاته (except that he must complete the part of the salāh that he has missed) have been reported in Nasā’ī (no. 558). In some other narratives, as, for instance, Ibn Mājah (no. 1121), the same meaning is conveyed through the words فليصل إليها أخرى (then he should offer the other [missed] part, joining it with the part he has already offered), while in Ibn Hibbān (no. 1486), the same implication is conveyed through the words وليتم ما بقي (and then he should complete the part that remains [missed]).

It is obvious that the same rule as is mentioned in the narrative under consideration will also apply to all the congregational prayers, including the jumu‘ah prayers. Thus, a similar narrative has also been reported with specific reference to the jumu‘ah prayers, as follows: 

روي أنه قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: من أدرك من صلاة الجمعة ركعة فقد أدرك.

It is narrated that the Prophet (sws) said: Whoever [joins in late in such a way that he] completes a rak‘ah of the jumu‘ah prayers, he would then be considered as having offered his jumū‘ah prayers with the congregation. (Nasā’ī, no. 1425)

Some more details are given in the following narrative:

روي أنه قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: من أدرك من الجمعة ركعة فليصل إليها أخرى فإن أدركهم جلوسا صلى أربعا.

It is narrated that the Prophet (sws) said: “Whoever [joins in late in such a way that he] completes a rak‘ah of the jumu‘ah prayers, he should then offer the other [missed] part, joining it with the part he has already offered with the congregation. However, if a person [joins in late in such a way that he finds the congregation sitting after the two rak‘ahs, then he should offer four rak‘ahs [as he would do while offering zuhr prayers].” (Bayhaqī, no. 5527)

(This write-up has been prepared by the Hadīth Cell of Jāved Ahmad Ghāmidī which includes Moiz Amjad, Izhār Ahmad, Muhammad Aslam Najmi and Kaukab Shehzad)

1. ie., you find the congregation in sajdah.

2. ie., at the time of joining, if the person finds the congregation in prostration, then even though he knows that his prostration shall not be counted as part of his salāh, yet he should join the congregation and, thereby, offer an extra prostration. This part of the narrative has also referred to the point that when a person joins in the congregation, while the congregation is in prostration, 1) the person would neither be considered to have completed the particular rak‘ah at the end of which the prostration is being offered; 2) nor would this prostration be counted as having been offered as a part of the person’s salāh. The former point implies that at the end of the congregation, when the person stands up to offer the missed part of his salāh, he shall also have to offer the particular rak‘ah during the prostration of which he had joined the congregation. The latter point implies that while completing the missed rak‘ahs, the person will also have to offer the sajdah anew, as the sajdah during which he had joined the congregation would not be counted as a part of his salāh.

3. As is generally held by most Muslims, a person would be said to have completed a particular rak‘ah with the congregation, if he joins the congregation before the imam straightens his back, rising from the rukū‘of that rak‘ah.

4. ie., at the end of congregation, when the imām offers salām, the person should then stand up and then complete that part of the salāh, which the congregation had offered before his joining.

5.The same rule as mentioned in the narrative under consideration applies to all congregational prayers, including the jumu‘ah congregation.