#649: Ruling on what necessitates catching up the Rak`ah while the Imaam is in Ruku`u
QUESTION:
“Assalamu alaykum
May Allah reward you and bless your knowledge
I entered the masjid for salat and I met the Imam in ruku’u position, I joined the row and say they takbeer while standing, immediately I finished the Imam was rising but I went ahead to join the ma’mun in the ruku’u
Pls am I considered to have met the raka'”
ANSWER:
Wa Alaykum Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh
Alhamdulillāh.
Amīn to your Du’ā and may Allāh bless us all, amīn.
Know, may the endless mercies of Allāh be upon you, that catching up with the Rukū’ is the least that a follower must do before it can be said that he caught up with that Raka’a when following an Imām. The evidence for this is the Hadith recorded by Imām Abū Dāwud – rahimahullāh – in his Sunan that the Rasūl -salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said;
ومن أدرك الركوع فقد أدرك الركعة
“And whosoever catches up with the Rukū’ has indeed caught up with that (particular) Raka’a”
The Fatwah of the majority of the Fuqahā and the Madh’hab of the four Imams is that a person has not caught up with the Raka’a until he has made the Rukū’ successfully while the Imām is still on the Rukū’.
Imām Ibn ‘AbdilBarr Al-Mālikī – Rahimahullāh – said in Al-Istidhkār:
“The majority of the Fuqahā are upon the fact that whomsoever catches up with the Imām while he is still in the Rukū’ and successfully makes the Takbīr, bows to the Rukū’ and is able to place his hands on his knees before the Imām raises his head has caught up with the Raka’a And whosoever did not catch up with that has missed the Raka’a.”
Then he said:
“This is the position of Mālik, Ash-Shāfi’ī, Abū Hanīfah, and their fellows. It’s also the position of Ath-Thawrī, Al-Awzā’ī and Ahmad bn Hanbal.”
Imām Ibn Qudāmah Al-Maqdisī – rahimahullāh – said in Al-Mughnī:
“Whomsoever catches up with the Imām while he is still in the Rukū’ has caught up with the Raka’a…”
Getting the Imām while he is still in the Rukū’ is so important that most of the Ulamā maintained that if he were to doubt whether he got the Imām in that position or not, he must discount that Raka’a and compensate for it after the Taslīm.
Imām Khalīl Ibn Is’hāq – rahimahullāh – said in the Mukhtasar:
وإن شك في الإدراك ألغاها
“And if he doubts whether or not he caught up with it, he must discount it (and compensate for it later)”
A similar statement was mentioned in Asnā Al-Matālib a corpus on the Shāfi’ī School.
Having said that, what you have described in your question shows that you have not caught up with that Raka’a and what was obligatory upon you was to compensate for that Raka’a after the Taslīm because you have only said the Takbīratu Al-Ihrām and have not bowed, placing your hands on your knees when the Imām rose up from the Rukū’.
What makes it clearer is what was mentioned by Imām Abū Dāwud – rahimahullāh – in Masā’ilu Imām Ahmad:
‘I heard Ahmad was asked about a man who caught up with the Imām on Rukū’ position, he then made the Takbīr and bowed then the Imām rose. He answered: if he has rested his hands on his knees before the Imām rises then he has caught up that Raka’a”
Therefore, two things must be put in mind:
One, he must say the Takbīratu Al-Ihrām while standing erect. If he didn’t say the Takbīratu Al-Ihrām or said it in a bowing position, he is not considered to have even entered into the Salāt.
Then, he may suffice with it or say another Takbīr before he goes for the Rukū’. But while a single Takbīr is ok, to do two is better. This is the position upheld by the Fuqahā from the four schools, and the Fatwah of Zayd bn Ath-Thābit, Ibn ‘Umar, Sa’īd bn Al-Musayyib, ‘Atā, and Ibrāhim An-Nakha’ī – rahimahumullāh.
Two, he must bow for the Rukū’ and have placed his hands on his knees while the Imām is still in a bowing position.
And Allāh knows best
Bārakallāhu Fīkum
Jazakumullāhu Khayran
30th Dhul Hijjah 1439A.H
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