365 – Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever catches one rakʿah of the Friday prayer or any other prayer should add another rakʿah to it, and his prayer is complete.” Narrated by al-Nasaʾi, Ibn Majah, and al-Darqutni—the wording is that of al-Darqutni—and its chain is sound, though Abu Ḥatim considered it mursal (1).
Hadith grading
The hadith is authentic. Al-Bayhaqi related it with a sound chain that meets the conditions of the Two Shaykhs, and it was also transmitted by al-Nasaʾi, Ibn Majah, and al-Darqutni (whose wording is cited above), although Abu Ḥatim deemed it mursal. The report reaches us through thirteen chains from Abu Hurayrah and through three from Ibn ʿUmar, all of which have been critiqued. Al-Albani concluded: “Taken as a whole, the version that mentions ‘the Friday prayer’ is sound, both as a marfūʿ report from Ibn ʿUmar and as a mawqūf statement.”
Vocabulary
– fa-li-yuḍif (let him add): aḍāfa shayʾan ilā shayʾ means to attach one thing to another; in other words, he should add a second rakʿah to the one he performed with the imam so that his prayer is complete. The prefixed lām is the lām of command.
Points derived from the hadith
- If a worshipper catches one rakʿah of the Friday prayer behind the imam, he should add a second rakʿah, and his Friday prayer is deemed complete.
- The implicit corollary is that if he does not manage to perform a full rakʿah of the Friday prayer with the imam—such as when the imam rises from