the prayer.” This is a general text encompassing every case of catching one rakʿah of the prayer, whether this concerns joining a congregation or praying within the prescribed time.

It is also reported in the two Sahīh collections that he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Whoever catches one rakʿah of the dawn prayer before sunrise has caught the dawn prayer, and whoever catches one rakʿah of the afternoon prayer before sunset has caught the afternoon prayer.”

This explicitly concerns completing one rakʿah within the prescribed time.

Some have challenged this by citing the wording found through certain routes of transmission:

“Whoever catches one prostration.”

They supposed that this includes someone who catches the first prostration. This is incorrect, for “prostration” here means a rakʿah, as in the hadith of Ibn ʿUmar:

“I learned from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to perform two prostrations before the noon prayer, two after it, and two after the sunset prayer…”

In the well-known wording, it says “two rakʿahs.” Likewise, it is reported:

“He used to pray two prostrations after witr.”

These were two rakʿahs, as explicitly explained in the authentic hadith. Anyone who performs just two prostrations after witr on the basis of this report is mistaken, by agreement of the imams. Moreover, according to them, the ruling does not depend on catching one of the two prostrations. It is thus clear that they accept the hadith.

Accordingly, if someone catches less than one rakʿah and another congregation follows, then praying a complete prayer with that congregation is preferable, since he will thereby have prayed in congregation, unlike in the first case. But if he catches one rakʿah—or less than one rakʿah, on the view that this counts as having caught the congregational prayer—then a conflict arises between his joining