They differ over the following question: when a late-comer joins the congregational prayer while the imam is already in bowing (rukūʿ), is it a condition that he pronounce two takbīrs—one for entering the prayer (takbīrat al-iḥrām) and another for the bowing—or will the takbīr of bowing alone suffice? And if one takbīr does suffice, must he intend by it the opening takbīr, or is that intention unnecessary?
Some scholars maintain that a single takbīr is sufficient provided he intends it as the opening takbīr; this is the position of Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī, although their preferred course is to utter two takbīrs.
Others insist that two takbīrs are indispensable.
A third group holds that one takbīr is enough even if he does not intend it as the opening takbīr.
The second opinion (mentioned earlier) states that once the imam has gone into bowing, the rakʿah is already missed and cannot be caught unless the follower finds the imam still standing; this view is attributed to Abū Hurayrah.
The third opinion says that if the newcomer reaches the last row after the imam has raised his head but some worshippers there have not yet risen, and he joins them in that position, it will count for him, because some of them act as imams for the others; this was the view of al-Shaʿbī.
The root of this disagreement lies in the ambiguity of the word rakʿah: does it signify only the act of bowing, or both bowing and standing together? The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “Whoever catches a rakʿah of the prayer has caught the prayer.” Ibn al-Mundhir affirms that this ḥadīth is firmly established from the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him.
Thus, whoever understands rakʿah to comprise both standing and bowing together will say: if the imam’s standing is missed, the rakʿah is missed. Conversely, whoever confines the term to the bowing itself will regard catching the bowing as catching the rakʿah. The dual usage arises from the term’s oscillation between its linguistic meaning and its juristic (sharʿī) meaning: linguistically, rakʿah refers to bowing, whereas in the Sacred Law it denotes standing, bowing, and prostration together.
Accordingly, one who takes the Prophet’s phrase “Whoever catches a rakʿah” to refer to the legally defined rakʿah—and refuses to work with only part of a term’s signification—requires that the follower catch all three postures with the imam: standing, bowing, and prostration. It is conceivable, however, that those who deemed bowing alone sufficient were attending to what the term most strongly conveys here; for the one who catches the bowing has captured two of the three elements, whereas the one who misses the bowing has taken only a single element. Hence the dispute ultimately reduces to whether partial or complete signification of terms should be adopted; both approaches are conceivable.
As for those who consider the bowing of the worshippers already in the row, they reason that a rakʿah of the prayer may be ascribed solely to the imam or to both the imam and the followers together. The cause of disagreement, then, lies in this possibility of ascription, as found in the Prophet’s words: “Whoever catches a rakʿah of the prayer.” The position of the majority remains the more evident.
Their dispute over whether one or two takbīrs suffice when a follower joins while the imam is bowing likewise turns on whether pronouncing the opening takbīr while standing is a requisite. Whoever holds that