the Prophet ﷺ on a journey. They came to a narrow pass, and when the time for prayer arrived, rain fell upon them: the sky was above them and wet ground beneath them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave the call to prayer while on his mount, then gave the second call. He moved forward on his mount and led them in prayer, gesturing for the movements, making his prostration lower than his bowing.

Reported by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi (1), who said: “This is the practice acted upon by the people of knowledge.”

This hadith shows that they prayed in congregation. Accordingly, the imam should stand ahead of them even when they are on their mounts, for this is the sunnah regarding the imam’s position.

Al-Rawd states: “Likewise, if he fears becoming separated from his travelling companions by dismounting, or fears for himself, or fears that he will be unable to remount if he dismounts, he must face the qiblah and do whatever he is able.”

That is: if he fears becoming separated from his travelling companions, he may pray on his mount even if there is no danger, because if a person becomes separated from his companions, he may become lost, or he may fall ill, fall asleep, or experience something similar and thereby suffer harm. Thus, if he says, “If I dismount, make the camel kneel, and pray, my companions will leave me behind and I will be unable to catch up with them; but if I pray on my camel, I will catch up with them,” we say to him: Pray on the camel: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear” [al-Baqarah: 286]; and, “He has not placed upon you in the religion any hardship” [al-Hajj: 78].