In sum, the fundamentals of the Sacred Law attest to the virtue of hastening toward every good deed; however, if the ḥadīth is deemed sound, the ritual prayer must be treated as an exception among the acts of devotion.
Fourth Issue
When is it recommended to rise for the prayer? Some considered it preferable to stand at the very start of the iqāmah, in keeping with the general encouragement to be swift. Others rise when the caller says, “qad qāmatiṣ-ṣalāh,” others at “ḥayya ʿala al-falāḥ,” and yet others wait until they actually see the imam. Some scholars—Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, among them—set no fixed point, leaving the matter to people’s individual capacity. No explicit legal text exists on the question except the ḥadīth of Abū Qatādah in which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “When the prayer is about to commence, do not stand up until you see me.” If this narration is authentic, it must be followed; otherwise the matter remains on its original permissibility—that is, there is no binding ruling—and whenever one stands is acceptable.
Fifth Issue
Mālik and many other scholars hold that a latecomer who enters behind the imam and fears missing the bowing—because the imam will raise his head before he can reach the first row—may bow where he is and then proceed forward while still bowing. Al-Shāfiʿī disliked this, whereas Abū Ḥanīfah distinguished between an individual and a group, disallowing it for one person but permitting it for several together. Mālik’s opinion is reported from Zayd ibn Thābit and Ibn Masʿūd.
The cause of their disagreement is their differing assessment of the ḥadīth of Abū Bakrah: “He entered the mosque while the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—was leading the people in prayer and they were in bowing. He bowed, then hurried into the row. When the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—concluded the prayer he asked, ‘Who was rushing?’ He replied, ‘Abū Bakrah, it was I.’ The Prophet said, ‘May Allah increase your zeal, but do not do it again.’”
Section Four
On what the congregant must follow the imam
The scholars unanimously agree that the follower must imitate the imam in all his statements and actions, except in the imam’s saying “Samiʿa Allahu liman ḥamidah,” and in his sitting posture when he leads the prayer sitting because of illness, according to those who allow a sitting imam.
As for their dispute over the phrase “Samiʿa Allahu liman ḥamidah,” one group holds that when the imam raises his head from bowing he says only “Samiʿa Allahu liman ḥamidah,” and the congregants say only “Rabbana wa laka al-ḥamd.” This is the view of Mālik, Abū Ḥanīfah, and others. Another group maintains that both imam and congregation say together, “Samiʿa Allahu liman ḥamidah, Rabbana wa laka al-ḥamd,” and that the followers join him in both phrases just as they do in the other takbīrs. It is also reported from Abū Ḥanīfah that the solitary worshipper and the imam both utter the two phrases, and there is no disagreement concerning the solitary worshipper—that he says them both.