and he must not make do with a mere nod in its place. If, however, he is able to prostrate before the imam bows, he should do so. Should he rise while the imam is standing—whether reciting or already in bowing—the sounder opinion is that he bows with him, and his case is that of a late-comer. If the imam has finished the bowing but not yet given the salām, he follows him in whatever posture he is in and, once the imam has concluded, performs one additional rakʿah. If the imam has already given the salām, the Friday prayer has escaped him.

If he cannot prostrate until the imam has bowed, one view is that he keeps to the order of his own prayer, yet the preferred opinion is that he rises with the imam, counting his first bowing as valid. Thus his rakʿah is stitched together from the bowing of the first unit and the prostration of the second, and, on the sound view, this still suffices for Friday. Were he, knowingly and despite the duty of following, to prostrate according to his own sequence, his prayer would be invalid. If he did so out of forgetfulness or ignorance, the first prostration is disregarded; when he prostrates a second time, it is counted.

The preponderant position is that he still attains the Friday prayer by means of this rakʿah, provided the two prostrations are completed before the imam’s salām. Should he, through forgetfulness, remain in prostration until the imam bows for the second rakʿah, he bows with him, according to the authoritative view of the school.