ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, from Zubayd al-Yāmī, from ʿAbd al-Rahmān. These four prayers, then, are not of the same kind as Fajr. It is well known that on Fridays one sometimes prays two rakʿahs and at other times four. Anyone who misses the Friday prayer prays four rakʿahs, not two. The same applies to anyone who fails to catch one rakʿah of it, according to the Companions and the majority of scholars, as authentically reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said:

“Whoever catches one rakʿah of the prayer has caught the prayer.”

When the conditions for the Friday prayer are met, the imam delivers two sermons and prays two rakʿahs. If, however, he were to deliver the sermon and pray four rakʿahs of Dhuhr, he would be abandoning the Sunnah. Even so, those praying would not be like someone who prayed four rakʿahs for Fajr. For this reason, a sick person, a traveller, a woman, or anyone else who is not obliged to attend the Friday prayer and may pray four rakʿahs of Dhuhr, may follow the imam in the Friday prayer and pray two rakʿahs. Likewise, a traveller may pray two rakʿahs, or follow a resident imam and pray four rakʿahs behind him.

If it is objected:

“Congregation is a condition for the Friday prayer; hence the ruling for someone praying alone differs from that for someone following an imam.”

This distinction was mentioned by the followers of al-Shāfiʿī and a group of Ahmad’s followers.

The reply is:

Whether congregation is a condition for the five daily prayers is disputed within Ahmad’s school and elsewhere. The stronger view is that it is a condition when one is able. Accordingly, when a traveller prays behind