The Exalted One says,

“When you are among them and lead them in prayer…” (al-Nisāʾ 4:102).

The converse implication is that, were he not among them, the ruling would be different. On that basis a group of the jurists of Syria maintained that “the Prayer of Fear is deferred from the moment of danger to the moment of safety, just as the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—did on the Day of the Trench.” The majority, however, hold that the postponement on the Day of the Trench occurred before the legislation of the Prayer of Fear and was abrogated once that ruling came down.

With regard to the actual format of the Prayer of Fear, the scholars differed widely because of the numerous, and divergent, narrations on the subject—namely, those describing the Prophet’s own practice, peace and blessings be upon him. Seven arrangements are the most commonly cited.

One of them is the version related by Mālik and Muslim from Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt:

“Someone who performed the Prayer of Fear with the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—on the day of Dhāt al-Riqāʿ reported that one group formed ranks behind him while another faced the enemy. He led the group with him in a single rakʿah, remained standing while they completed the prayer for themselves, then they withdrew to confront the enemy. The other group came forward and he led them in the rakʿah that remained of their prayer; he then remained seated while they completed the prayer for themselves, after which he gave the salām with them.”

This is the arrangement preferred by al-Shāfiʿī.

Mālik transmitted the same report, through al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad from Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt, in a mawqūf form identical to the narration of Yazīd ibn Rumān, which states:

“When he had completed the rakʿah with the second group he pronounced the salām and did not wait for them to finish the prayer.”

Mālik chose this version, whereas al-Shāfiʿī preferred the musnad report to the mawqūf. Mālik favored the mawqūf because it better accords with foundational principles—namely, that the imam should not sit until the second group has finished its prayer, for the imam is to be followed, not to follow—and this is undisputed.

The third arrangement is found in the ḥadīth of Abū ʿUbaydah ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, from his father, transmitted by al-Thawrī and others and recorded by Abū Dāwūd:

“The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—performed the Prayer of Fear with one group while another was facing the enemy. He led those with him in a rakʿah and two prostrations; they then withdrew without giving the salām and stood opposite the enemy. The others came and stood with him; he led them in a rakʿah and then gave the salām. These stood up, completed a rakʿah on their own, gave the salām, and departed to take the place of the first group in facing the enemy, while the first group returned to their positions and prayed …”