If he doubts and neither possibility seems more likely to him, he takes the lesser number and performs two prostrations before the salām.

One issue remains: is there a distinction between the imam, the person praying alone, and the follower in congregational prayer, or are they all alike?

The answer is that some scholars (1) distinguished between the imam and others, saying: the imam should act upon what seems more likely to him, whereas the follower and the person praying alone should base their prayer on certainty, which is the lesser number.

The basis for this distinction, according to these scholars, is that the imam has someone to alert him if he makes a mistake, unlike others. (2) However, the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd mentioned earlier indicates that one should act upon what seems more likely to him, whether he is an imam, a follower, or praying alone.

Issue: If someone arrives while the imam is bowing, says the opening takbīr, then bows, and afterward is uncertain whether he caught the imam while he was bowing or whether the imam rose before he caught him—then, according to the view adopted by the author, this rakʿah is not counted, because he doubts whether he caught it or not. Thus, he bases his prayer on certainty—that he did not catch it—and disregards this rakʿah.

According to the second view—namely, acting upon what seems more likely—we say: Does it seem more likely to you that you caught the imam in bowing or not? If he says, “Yes, it seems more likely to me that I caught him in bowing,” we say: This rakʿah