or because, in his view, his journey was not one for which prayer could be shortened. Some Companions held that prayer should be shortened only when travelling for Hajj, ‘umrah, or a military expedition. Many earlier and later scholars disagreed over both the kinds of journey that permit shortening the prayer and the distance required. In this particular incident, the imam’s circumstances are unclear. Salmān’s following him indicates that when an imam acts on the basis of an interpretive judgment, he is to be followed in that action—as when, on such a basis, he recites qunūt (the supplication in prayer), or pronounces “Allah is the Greatest” five or seven times.

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once prayed five units, and his Companions followed him, thinking that the prayer had been increased. When he concluded the prayer with the salutation, they mentioned this to him, and he said:

“I am only a human being, and I forget as you forget. So when I forget, remind me.”

Scholars have disagreed about what someone praying behind an imam should do if the imam rises for a fifth unit: should he follow him, cease following him and conclude his prayer with the salutation, cease following him and wait for him, or be given a choice between these courses? There are well-known views on this, all of which have been reported from Ahmad.

Alternatively, Salmān may have considered praying four units disliked, yet followed the imam in doing so. Following the imam is obligatory, and doing something disliked is permissible for an overriding benefit. Undoubtedly, a traveller’s praying four units is not like praying four units for Fajr. If a traveller were to pray behind a resident imam, he would pray four units in order to follow his imam. Thus, this prayer is performed as two units in some circumstances and four in others, unlike Fajr. Following a travelling imam could therefore be treated like a traveller’s following a resident imam, since in both cases the person follows his imam.