pointed out? The principle underlying Abū Hanīfa’s position is that the follower’s prayer is subsumed within the imam’s prayer and is entirely dependent upon it. He therefore requires the follower to repeat his prayer whenever the imam is required to repeat his.

The principle underlying al-Shāfiī’s position is that each person prays for himself and the imam does not take the follower’s place in any obligatory or Sunnah act. This is why he instructed the follower to say, “Allah hears whoever praises Him,” required him to recite, and did not invalidate his prayer because of a deficiency in the imam’s prayer except in certain cases. These include the imam’s bearing on behalf of the follower the prostrations for forgetfulness, the imam’s recitation sufficing for a follower who joins the prayer late, and the invalidity of the prayer of one able to recite when praying behind one unable to do so, among similar cases.

As for Mālik and Ahmad, they hold that the follower’s prayer is dependent upon the imam’s prayer in one respect but not another, as we have mentioned: he listens to the recitation when it is audible and participates in reciting when it is silent. Accordingly, the follower does not say, “Allah hears whoever praises Him”; rather, he praises Allah in response to the imam’s declaration, as established by the authentic texts. The follower’s prayer is also dependent upon the imam’s in matters for which they are excused, but not in matters for which they are not, as discussed earlier under prayer leadership.

[Section on Prayers in Circumstantial Situations]

Section

As for prayers performed in circumstantial situations—such as the prescribed prayer during fear, illness, or travel; prayers intended to ward off affliction when its causes arise, such as prayers prompted by signs like an eclipse and the like; prayers intended to obtain blessings, such as the prayer for rain; and the funeral prayer—the jurists versed in hadith, such as Ahmad and others, follow the general body of established hadiths transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions concerning this subject. They therefore permit all the forms of the fear prayer reliably transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and they prefer shortening the prayer while traveling, in adherence to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), for while traveling he never once performed a four-unit prayer except