I say: The correct view is that hastening is disliked, whether or not one fears missing the opening takbīr, because the ḥadith is general in its wording. This is the position of the Shāfiʿīs, and Ibn al-Mundhir reports it from Zayd ibn Thābit, Anas, Aḥmad, and Abū Thawr; he himself adopts it, and al-ʿAbdarī transmits it from the majority of scholars, as stated in al-Majmūʿ. In that work he also cites another opinion attributed to some Shāfiʿīs—namely Abū Isḥāq—that echoes the statement of Isḥāq ibn Rāhūyah quoted by al-Tirmidhī. Al-Nawawī remarks: “It is extremely weak and contradicts the sound Sunnah.”

The scholars explain that the wisdom behind approaching the prayer with tranquility and the prohibition of running is that the worshipper is deliberately seeking the prayer and drawing near to it; therefore he should observe its etiquette and come in the best possible state. This is the meaning of the Prophet’s words in Mālik’s version and others: “One of you is in prayer as long as he is walking toward the prayer.”

His statement, “When the prayer is established,” is mentioned only to highlight all other situations: if one is forbidden to run when the iqāma has been pronounced and he fears missing part of the prayer, then the prohibition before the iqāma is even more emphatic. The reason is then made explicit: “For one of you is in prayer as long as he is walking toward the prayer.” This covers every occasion of going to the prayer, and it is reinforced again by his words: “Whatever you catch, pray; and whatever you miss, complete.” Thus the text provides notice and emphasis so that no one imagines the prohibition applies only to the person who does not fear missing anything of the prayer; the Prophet explicitly forbade running even if part of the prayer has already elapsed, and he clarified what the latecomer should do about what he missed.

The scholars have differed over the portion of the prayer a latecomer misses: is it treated as the beginning of his prayer or its conclusion?