the imam signals to them, whereupon they remain sitting; he then rises, completes for himself whatever parts of the prayer he has missed, and pronounces the closing salām together with them.
According to a number of the scholars of Madinah, a worshipper who suffers a nosebleed may resume the prayer on the basis of what he has already performed with the imam, provided he first washes the blood away. This applies so long as he has not spoken; if he speaks, he must start the prayer over. Likewise, if the bleeding occurs before he has completed a full rakʿah, he must begin the prayer anew, whether or not he has spoken.
A person praying alone who suffers a nosebleed never resumes his prayer; only someone praying in congregation who has completed at least one full rakʿah—whether he is the imam or a follower—may build upon what he has already prayed. All of this represents the distilled position of Mālik as transmitted by the majority of his companions.
Muḥammad ibn Maslama, however, held that one may resume whether he has prayed much or little. Thus, if he has completed a full rakʿah and part of a second, then experiences a nosebleed, he should leave, wash the blood away, restart the second rakʿah from its beginning, and count it after the first.
Muḥammad and ʿAbd al-Malik maintained that he resumes from whatever part of the second rakʿah he had already performed, without repeating it from the start. If a follower behind an imam suffers a nosebleed, leaves to wash the blood away, and had already prayed one full rakʿah with the imam, he should perform the second rakʿah in the spot where he washed the blood away, or in the nearest suitable place. He is not obliged to return to the mosque, though it is recommended that he do so if he hopes to catch another rakʿah with the imam.
All of the foregoing concerns prayers other than the Friday prayer. In the case of Jumuʿah, Mālik requires him to return to the mosque to complete the prayer; he then performs, on his own, the rakʿah he missed, and it counts for him as Jumuʿah.
If the nosebleed occurs during Jumuʿah before he has completed a rakʿah with both prostrations alongside the imam, and he does not expect to catch the second rakʿah with the imam, he need not return to the mosque; instead, he begins the prayer anew as the four-rakʿah ẓuhr prayer. Should he return and manage to catch one rakʿah with its two prostrations with the imam, he adds another rakʿah and the Friday prayer is complete for him. He does not resume in