the congregation completely in another mosque. But according to the author’s view, join the imam, because you will have caught the congregation so long as you catch the opening takbir before the imam’s first salutation.

“And if he catches up with him while he is bowing, he joins him in that rak'ah, and the opening takbir suffices for him …”

His statement, “if he catches up with him,” means: if the follower catches up with the imam.

His statement, “while he is bowing,” describes the pronoun in “catches up with him”; that is, if he catches up with the imam while the imam is bowing, he joins him in that rak'ah and is considered to have caught the rak'ah.

His statement, “the opening takbir suffices for him,” means that the opening takbir suffices in place of the takbir for bowing. Thus, he says the takbir once while standing, then bows without saying another takbir.

This is because they are two acts of worship of the same kind that coincide at one time, so one of them suffices in place of the other.

Another rationale is that if he occupies himself with saying the takbir for bowing, he may miss the bowing itself. Preserving the bowing takes precedence, because the takbir for bowing is obligatory, whereas bowing itself is the essential act, since it is a pillar of the prayer. For this reason, they said that he is not required to say the takbir for bowing in this case. Nevertheless, saying it is better and more complete, because this is a situation in which caution is called for. Someone may say: What evidence do you have that the takbir for bowing is waived? And your statement, “they are two acts of worship of the same kind that coincide at one time,” is open to question, because the opening takbir is said while standing, whereas the takbir for bowing is said while lowering oneself into bowing; thus, they do not occur in the same position.

The second view on this issue is that he must say the takbir for bowing.

However, there is a matter here that must be carefully noted: he must say the takbir