make this a regular sunnah practice, nor did he do it in the mosque.

Question: If someone were to say, “You have affirmed that it is eleven rak‘ahs; so what is your view if we pray behind an imam who performs twenty-three rak‘ahs, or more? When he rises for the sixth pair of rak‘ahs, should we sit down and leave him, or is it better that we complete the prayer with him?”

The answer is that it is better to complete it with him. The evidence for this is twofold:

First: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said concerning the night prayer in Ramadan: “Whoever stands in prayer with the imam until he finishes will be recorded as having stood in prayer for the entire night.” (1) Whoever sits waiting until the imam reaches Witr and then performs Witr with him has not prayed with the imam until he finishes, because he has omitted part of his prayer.

Second: The generality of the Prophet’s statement, peace and blessings be upon him: “The imam has only been appointed to be followed.” (2) This includes every act performed by the imam, unless it is prohibited. Performing more than eleven rak‘ahs is not prohibited; therefore, we follow the imam.

However, if the additional act is prohibited—for example, if the imam were to pray five rak‘ahs for Zuhr—then we do not follow him.

Then we should know that the unity of the ummah is a primary objective of Islamic law, for Allah says: “Indeed, this community of yours is one community.”