nor going ahead of him. Hence the Messenger ﷺ said: “When he says the takbir, then say the takbir; when he bows, then bow; and when he prostrates, then prostrate” (1). The particle “then” indicates sequence and immediate succession.

Likewise, if the imam sits in the tawarruk posture in every tashahhud followed by the closing salutation, even in a two-rak'ah prayer, while the follower holds that tawarruk is prescribed only in the second tashahhud of prayers in which two tashahhuds are prescribed, then he need not sit in tawarruk with his imam in a two-rak'ah prayer, because this entails neither lagging behind nor preceding him.

The imam bears the prostration of forgetfulness on behalf of the follower, on condition that the follower joined the imam from the beginning of the prayer. Thus, if the follower sat for the first tashahhud, thinking that he was sitting between the two prostrations, and began saying, “My Lord, forgive me and have mercy on me,” then rose with his imam, the imam bears the prostration of forgetfulness on his behalf—provided that he has not missed any part of the prayer. This is because, if he were to prostrate in this situation, it would result in going against the imam. But if he has missed any part of the prayer, the imam does not bear it on his behalf.

Another example is that the imam bears on behalf of the follower the recitation beyond al-Fatihah in prayers in which additional recitation after al-Fatihah is prescribed aloud. For example, if the imam recites al-Fatihah aloud, and the follower recites al-Fatihah, then recites other verses, the imam bears this on his behalf; that is, the follower is not prescribed to recite any verses besides al-Fatihah.

The same applies to the prayer-screen: the imam’s prayer-screen serves as a prayer-screen for the follower.