Following the Imam in Prayer in the Extra Rak’ah

Abstract

This research deals with the study of the issue of the person being led in prayer following the imam in the extra Rak'ah in prayer, the conditions of this person being led in prayer in terms of his/her awareness of the prayer from the beginning or missing a Rak'ah of it, so he is preceded, and the position of the person being led towards it according to his knowledge or ignorance of the extra Rak'ah, as well as the rule of following, his forgetfulness and absent-mindedness during it.

The research aims to explain the conditions of the person being led in prayer and their differences in relation to this addition, and to clarify the rulings of the person being led in this following in terms of his knowledge or lack thereof of this addition, besides the ruling on following the imam in this regard.

The research relied on the inductive approach based on collecting scientific material related to the subject from the four schools of jurisprudence and others, along with analyzing it, and the deductive approach to derive the legal rulings by mentioning the evidence and discussing it on each issue, then arriving at the most weighing opinion.

Among the most important results of this research are: that if the person being led in prayer by the imam from the beginning of the prayer is certain that the addition is not necessary, then his/her ruling is to sit down and not follow the imam in the addition, otherwise his/her prayer is invalid. If he/she is aware of the addition but is unaware of the ruling on following the imam, then his prayer is not invalidated. If the person being led is distracted and absent-minded and follows the imam in the addition, his/her prayer is valid. If the one who missed the prayer beginning is aware of the addition, it does not count and he/she does not follow the imam in it; if he/she is unaware of the addition, then the Rak'ah is valid and it is counted according to the most weighing opinion.