I asked Aḥmad, “When should the people rise for the prayer?” He replied, “When he—that is, the mu’adhin—says, ‘qad qāmat al-ṣalāh.’” I then said, “And if the imam has not yet arrived?” He answered, “They are not to stand until they actually see him.”

Al-Bayhaqī reports the same from Anas: “We have transmitted from Anas ibn Mālik (Allah be pleased with him) that when the words ‘qad qāmat al-ṣalāh’ were pronounced, he would leap up and stand. The same is related from al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Allah ennoble him). It is likewise the view of ʿAṭāʾ and al-Ḥasan.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “The majority hold that if the imam is already in the mosque with the congregation, they should not stand until the iqāmah is completed. Yet it is narrated from Anas that he would stand as soon as the mu’adhin said, ‘qad qāmat al-ṣalāh’; this was reported by Ibn al-Mundhir and others, and Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr recorded it as well through Abū Isḥāq from the companions of ʿAbdullāh. Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib said: ‘When the mu’adhin says “Allāhu akbar,” it becomes obligatory to rise; when he says “ḥayya ʿala al-ṣalāh,” the rows are straightened; and when he says “lā ilāha illā Allāh,” the imam pronounces the opening takbīr.’ Abū Ḥanīfah held that they should stand when the mu’adhin says ‘ḥayya ʿala al-falāḥ,’ and that the imam should commence the takbīr when ‘qad qāmat al-ṣalāh’ is uttered.

If, however, the imam is not yet in the mosque, the majority rule that the people must not rise until they actually see him. Those just mentioned disagreed in the manner we have detailed, but the ḥadīth under discussion is proof against them. It also establishes the permissibility of giving the iqāmah while the imam is still in his house, provided he can hear it and has already granted permission for that. Al-Qurṭubī said: