—it would cause him to miss the opening takbīrah (takbīrat al-iḥrām) with the imam. Otherwise, he would have to begin his two-rakʿah prayer while the mu’adhin is pronouncing the adhān, and that would deprive him of many recommended acts, such as responding to the call, invoking blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, and asking for al-wasīlah, as explained earlier. All of this runs counter to Allah’s words: “And cooperate with one another in righteousness and piety” (al-Māʾidah 5:2), and to the Prophet’s ﷺ saying, “Whoever among you can benefit his brother, let him do so” (Muslim).

The jurists have differed on this question. The Shāfiʿīs agree that it is recommended to remain seated for a time sufficient for the congregation to gather, except for Maghrib, which is not delayed because its time is short and because people customarily assemble for it before the time begins; anyone who is late in arriving rarely misses the opening of the prayer. Even so, they still advise a brief interval between its adhān and iqāmah, accomplished by sitting silently or something similar.

Imām al-Nawawī states in al-Majmūʿ: “This is our position, with no disagreement among us, and it is also the view of Ahmad, Abū Yūsuf, and Muhammad; it is likewise narrated from Abū Ḥanīfah. Mālik and, in his well-known opinion, Abū Ḥanīfah hold that one does not sit between them.”

Al-Bukhārī—and after him al-Bayhaqī—pointed to the same meaning when he titled a chapter, “How long is the interval between the adhān and the iqāmah,” and then cited the aforementioned ḥadīth of Ibn Mughaffal.

As for the ḥadīth of Jābir that the Prophet ﷺ said to Bilāl, “Place between your adhān and your iqāmah the amount of time it takes for an eater to finish his food, a drinker to finish his drink, and someone who needs to relieve himself to enter and fulfill his need,” it is weak. It was recorded by al-Tirmidhī, al-Ḥākim, and al-Bayhaqī.