And likewise his saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Does the one who raises his head before the imam not fear that Allah may turn his head into a donkey’s head?”

This is because the follower follows the imam and takes him as his example. Someone who follows another and takes him as his example does not go ahead of him. If he does, he is like a donkey that does not understand the purpose of its work, as stated in another hadith:

“The one who speaks while the preacher is delivering the sermon is like a donkey carrying books.”

Whoever does this deserves punishment and disciplinary action that will deter him and others like him. It is related that ʿUmar saw a man moving ahead of the imam, so he struck him and said: “You have neither prayed on your own nor followed your imam.”

If someone inadvertently precedes the imam, his prayer is not invalidated, but he must lag behind him by as much as he had preceded him, as the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed. This is because the follower’s prayer is governed by the imam’s prayer. What he inadvertently does before the imam does not invalidate his prayer, because he has inadvertently added an act of the same kind as those prescribed in prayer. It is as though he had inadvertently added an extra bow or prostration, which does not invalidate the prayer according to the Sunnah and scholarly consensus.

However, according to the correct view, whatever he does before the imam does not count, because he has done it out of its proper place: the time before the imam acts is not the time for the follower to act. He is therefore like someone who prays before the appointed time, or someone who pronounces the opening declaration, “Allah is greatest,” before the imam does. This does not discharge the obligation Allah has imposed upon him. Rather, he must begin his prayer when its time arrives, not before it, and the follower must begin his prayer when the imam begins, not before him. Likewise, the follower