Chapter Five
Congregational Prayer
salat al-Jama’ah
Praying in congregation is one of Islam’s most important rituals and one of the greatest recommended acts; its recommended status is emphasised by all Muslims and God’s reward for performing it is great. Congregational prayer is better than praying on one’s own, and it is best in the daily obligatory prayers, both within the allocated time and outside it, but especially within the time, and more so at the dawn, sunset and evening prayers. But if someone had vowed to pray in congregation and the object of the vow was achieved, in this case congregational prayer becomes obligatory on him as a fulfilment of his vow.
The relation between the leader and the follower in congregational prayers is called Iqtida’ (lit. following a model, i.e. doing what the leader does).
The details of this kind of prayer are as follows:
(A) Prayers where iqtida’ is allowed
537. Iqtida’, i.e. following the prayer imam, is allowed in all obligatory prayers – the daily prayers, Friday prayer, ayat (signs) prayer etc, except the tawaf (circumambulation) prayer since there is no strong evidence/proof on Iqtida’ in this.
As for the recommended prayers, Iqtida’ is not allowed, even if this takes place as a result of a vow or the like, and there is no distinction in this between the daily recommended prayers or others. The exception is the istisqa’ (praying for rain at times of drought and shortage in rainfall) and Eid – if it is not obligatory (see the chapter on Eid prayers), in which case jama’ah (congregation) is allowed.
538. In contrast to other obligatory prayers, the Friday and the obligatory Eid prayers are not valid except in congregation.
539. It is recommended for the person who has prayed alone to repeat it in congregation, whether as a leader or follower, provided that the congregation includes at least one follower who has not prayed before.
540. It is not a condition for the correctness of Iqtida’ that both the leader and the follower are praying the same prayer, but it is sufficient that they are praying the same type of prayer such as the daily prayer; so if one of them is praying the evening prayer and the other the sunset prayer, or one of them is praying within the time and the other qada’, or one is praying tamam and the other qasr, following is allowed. However, if the type is different, such as if the leader is praying the ayat prayer and the follower a daily prayer, for example, following is not valid.
541. Things may take place which make it obligatory that the person offers the prayer as a precaution; these fall in four situations:
1- That he doubts the correctness of his prayer that he has offered; in this case he repeats it as a precaution.
2- That the obligation is to repeat the prayer, such as the cases of combining both tamam and qasr praying.
3- That the doubt is in the obligation itself, such as when a woman combines the acts during istihadah and what the woman during the menses abstains from.
4- That the prayer is being offered to remedy doubting the number of rak’ahs, which is the ihtiyat prayer.
In these cases, following an imam is not allowed when the follower does not act in a precautionary way (mohtat) in his prayer. However, if a follower does act in a precautionary way, then Iqtida’ is valid in the first three cases, even though the reason for precaution is different, but not in the fourth case even if the doubt assailed both of them, in which case each of them should offer the ihtiyat prayer on his own.
(B) Conditions/requirements and method of Iqtida’
542. The Iqtida’ is the relation between the imam (leader) and the ma’mūm (follower) in congregational prayers. This takes place with the follower setting the intention when starting his praying to pray following the leader, so the relation originates from the follower and has nothing to do with the leader, which is why it is not conditional that the leader intends to pray with a congregation when he starts praying. In other words, the congregation takes place by the intention of the follower not the leader.
543. There are certain conditions for the correctness of Iqtida’:
1- The follower must specify the person he is going to follow; this being done mentally is sufficient, so if his intention was to pray following the person standing in front believing that he is praying behind A then he discovers that he was B, his congregational status is valid, provided that the conditions of the imam in B are fulfilled.
2- The leader must be praying alone, meaning that he himself is not following a leader; so Iqtida’ is not valid if following a person who is following (Iqtida’) a third person.
3- The intention of the congregation must take place from the start of the prayer, so it is not acceptable for someone who has started to pray alone then to set the intention to partake in congregational prayer (after starting); however, the reverse is allowed, i.e. changing his intention from a congregation to praying alone is allowed.
544. It is allowed – from the standpoint of principle – that the follower joins congregational prayer in any rak’ah which the leader has reached, if the leader is in the position of standing to recite or performing the the thikr of tesbih, or the position of roku’, but if the leader has ended the roku’ and the person cannot join him, it is not allowed to join until the leader stands up again.
545. If he finds the leader bowing in roku’ and he is at a distance from the congregation and fears that he will not reach the line of the prayers in time, he is allowed to recite takbir and bow outside the lines, then to walk to them while they are in roku’, provided that he does not fail in any other duties of the prayer and the congregation.
546. It is obligatory on the follower to follow the leader in the acts and that he does not carry out an act before the leader, whether a rokn or otherwise, but carries them out either after the leader (but without a long gap) or with him at the same time. Regarding the recitals, however, such following is not obligatory except in the takbirah of ihram in which the follower is not allowed to carry it out before the leader, nor at the same time.
547. If the follower fails to follow the leader properly, there are two situations:
First: If this took place intentionally and with full knowledge of his duty, in this case Iqtida’ is void and he has had not partaken in congregational prayer; his prayer itself might become void if he did, intentionally, things that would invalidate the prayer (on his own).
Second: If this took place out of lack of awareness, in this case his Iqtida’ is not void and he has to start to follow the leader as appropriate; this may occur in the following situations:
1- If he raises his head from bowing or prostrating before the leader through lack of awareness. Here there are two possibilities:
a- That he realises this when the leader is still bowing; in this case he has to go back to bowing and continue his prayer, but if he fails to go back his congregational status becomes void.
b- That he realises this after the leader has raised his head; in this case he should continue his prayer without consequences.
2- If he begins bowing or prostrating when the leader is still standing or sitting. Here, if the leader is still standing or sitting, he must go back to his position and follow him, without any problem resulting from the addition of bowing or prostrating as a result of following the leader; but if he realises this when the leader has begun bowing or prostrating, he must stay in his position of bowing or prostrating and follow his prayer with the leader.
3- If the leader bows and prostrates but the follower fails to follow him through lack of awareness or not knowing it until the leader raises his head. In this case he should perform what he omitted and continue his prayer with the leader.
4- If both the leader and the follower rise up from a bowing or prostrating position, but the follower, through lack of awareness, reaches the standing or sitting position before the leader. In this case he should stay as he is until the leader reaches the position then continue his prayer with him.
548. It is not allowed for the follower to follow the leader if the latter, through lack of awareness, added a prostration, for example; his abstention from following him will not invalidate his congregational status.
549. For the Iqtida’ to take place, the leader and the followers must be in one place from the beginning to the end in a way that they would commonly be regarded as present in one place, not separated; thus a congregation is not valid if a wall or the like is present that prevents seeing, or if there is a big gap between members of the congregation; here, it is essential – as an obligatory precaution – that the gap between the spot on which any one of them stands and the spot on which the one behind him prostrates is not more than a distance that can possibly be crossed by one big step, based on the widest of steps by a normal human being.
The exception to this is the woman who is following a man; in this case she is allowed to follow in prayer with a separation (wall etc) or a gap between her and the leading man or between her and the male followers.
550. The connection with the congregation (described above) will not be invalidated by the belief of a follower that the prayer of those praying in front of him and connecting him to the congregation is void, because the congregation exists as long as the prayer is being carried out; this includes the presence of a follower who is not obliged to pray, such as a child or someone who is insane. Also, it does not matter if someone who is behind starts takbir before those in front of him, as long as they are all about to perform takbir, nor if something happens that would invalidate the prayer of one of the followers, or obliges him to pray alone, or to end of his prayer before the leader, such as if he was praying qasr, unless the separating distance becomes wide, in which case he must proceed forward to effect the connection.
551. The follower does not depend on the leader’s acts in prayer except in the recital of the Fatihah and the chapter after it, according to the following:
a- The follower starts the first rak’ah; in this case the follower does not recite the recital in the two rak’ahs (i.e. he just listens to the leader’s recital).
b- The follower starts the second rak’ah; in this case he does not recite his first rak’ah (i.e. he listens to the recital of the leader’s second rak’ah), then the follower recites for himself his second rak’ah since the leader will be performing thikr not recital.
c- The follower starts in the third rak’ah, or the fourth; in this case the recital is no longer to be performed if he starts and the leader is bowing in roku’; however, if he starts and the leader is still standing performing thikr, in this case he has to recite for himself.
Based on this, entering a congregational prayer is valid according to the following:
1- If the leader is in the first rak’ah, the follower may start with him after the takbirah of ihram even before he lifts his head from roku’ (the last limit of catching up); in this case he does not recite for the two rak’ahs and follows the leader in his prayer.
2- If the leader is in the second rak’ah, the follower may start with him as above, and he may perform qonūt with the leader, but the omission of the recital is only for his first rak’ah and he should follow the congregation according to his own obligation, ensuring that he follows the leader in the acts and observes the last limit of catching up which is the roku’; but here he does not perform tashshhod with the leader because he (the follower) is still in his first rak’ah while the leader is in the second, but he stays in a position ready to stand up (waiting for the leader to finish the tashshhod), then stands up with the leader to perform his second rak’ah (the third for the leader), recites for himself the Fatihah and another chapter when the leader is performing thikr in the third rak’ah, and when he goes down with the leader for prostrating he must perform tashshhod when the leader will be (already standing and) performing thikr in the fourth rak’ah. Here if the follower is praying a 2-rak’ah prayer, he should perform teslīm and end his prayer and can follow another prayer after the leader, but if he is praying a prayer consisting of more than two rak’ahs, he must stand up for thikr and catch up with the leader in his roku’, and when the leader reaches the last tashshhod, here if the follower’s prayer is 3-rak’ah one, he should perform tashshhod and teslīm with the leader, but if it is a 4-rak’ah prayer, he should stand up to offer the last rak’ah, either before the leader’s tashshhod of after he finishes it, without him (the follower) performing it obviously.
3- If the leader is in the third rak’ah, the follower may start with him in roku’, in which case he does not recite for this rak’ah; or he may choose to start when the leader is performing thikr, in which case he must recite (the Fatihah and chapter); therefore, if he wants to enter the prayer, he must see whether he will be able to recite if the leader is in the thikr position; this is not different to the last assumption except that his second tashshhod will fall at the same time as the leader’s last tashshhod; here if the follower’s prayer is a 2-rak’ah one, he will perform teslīm with the leader; if it is a 3-rak’ah one, he will stand up to offer one rak’ah; and if it is a 4-rak’ah one, he will stand up to offer two rak’ahs.
4- If the leader is in the fourth rak’ah, how to enter is the same as the last assumption; thus the follower would have caught up with one rak’ah in congregation, so he does not perform tashshhod with the leader, but stands up – before or after the tashshhod without carrying it out – to complete the rest of his prayer alone.
552. When the follower has to perform the recital for himself, he must do this whispering, even if the prayer is originally a jahriyyah (to be recited aloud).
553. If the follower is reciting the Fatihah and a chapter for himself – when he had to do that himself – and he fears failing to perform roku’ with the leader if he was to complete the chapter, in this case he can recite the Fatihah only; but if he fears that if he will not be able tocomplete the Fatihah, he is not allowed to cut it short, but must complete reciting it in the hope of catching up with the leader – then if he manages to catch up with him, that is fine; otherwise he has to continue with his prayer alone, reciting a chapter after the Fatihah.
554. The congregation is not invalidated by the addition of sojūd or roku’ in some cases (which were mentioned earlier) in order to follow the leader, but such additions are not allowed when one is praying along, nor allowed by the leader (in a congregation).
555. If, after finishing the prayer, a follower discovers that his following was not correct, the prayer is still valid, unless he doubts the number of rak’ah and had to rely on the leader in this; in this case he has to offer his prayer again because a rak’ah might have been added or omitted in his prayer.
(C) The conditions/requirements of the congregation leader
556. There are many requirements for the leader of congregational prayer:
1- Reaching the Islamic legal age (bolugh).
2- Sanity, so it is not acceptable for the insane to lead congregational prayer, unless his condition occurs intermittently, in which case his leadership of prayer is acceptable when he is sane.
3- Purity of birth, so one who was born outside marriage cannot lead a congregation.
4- Belief.
5- He must not be i‘rabi, who is one living in badiyah (where the Bedouin live) or the like, in a way that makes it difficult to rely on the correctness of his prayer.
6- Masculinity if the follower(s) is/are male, otherwise a woman can lead other women in prayer, but of course men can lead women in prayer.
7- Justice, which is the practical adherence to the Shari’ah in doing its obligations and abstaining from its prohibitions through having a personality that is essentially God-fearing, so that justice is a question of straightforward conduct that comes from within the person not merely behaviour on the outside.
8- The leader must recite the Fatihah and the other chapter correctly, hence if he has a problem in the correctness of his speech or recital, it is not allowed for the follower to follow him; that said, it is not a problem if the follower is better at recital or has clearer speech than the leader.
9- The leader must be able to pray standing if the follower prays standing; the disabled, however, must not be followed except by someone who is like him.
However, being free from other conditions is not a condition, whether in ablution or otherwise, so leadership by someone who is performing tayammom of someone who is performing ablution is allowed, someone who has a splint or bandage can lead someone without, the woman during istihadah can lead the pure, and the amputee can lead the full-bodied, and so on.
10- The prayer of the leader must be correct as far as the follower is concerned, so if the follower comes to know that his leader has performed ablution with impure water out of ignorance of its impurity, he is not allowed to follow him. Nor is he allowed to follow him if he comes to know that he does not observe the correct order in his washing from al-hadath al-Akbar, relying on his opinion that this is allowed (ijtihad) or follows the opinion of a scholar (taqlid), when the follower does not accept the correctness of such washing neither as a taqlid nor ijtihad. The same applies to cases in which the ignorant is not excused as far as the follower is concerned. However, if he comes to know something which in the ignorant is to be excused, such as if he sees an impurity on the leader’s dress and the latter does not know that, in this case he is allowed to follow him.
11- The leader must not be higher (in his location during prayer) than the follower by more than a hand span, but he is allowed to be lower than the follower; this is if the ground has a clear high and low areas. But if this is not clear, such as on the land that has a slight and gradual inclination, in this case it is allowed for the leader to stand on any spot.
12- The leader must not stand in a position that is level with the follower or behind him; for two men praying as a congregation, it is allowed that they stand side by side on the same level, not to mention the follower standing on the same level behind the leader, although the precaution of standing in a position behind the leader should not be disregarded. It is also better for the single male follower to stand to the right of the leader, a little behind so that the follower’s prostrating spot is at the level of the leader’s knee spot. However, if the leader is a woman, there is no doubt that her standing on the same level as her female followers is allowed, and is indeed better.