—namely, that when a worshiper rises to perform the prayer or walks to the mosque for it, he continues upon his original intention, even if the thought of it slips from conscious awareness, until he diverts that resolve to something else.

The inaugural takbīr is to say: “Allāhu Akbar”; no other wording is acceptable.

If someone praying alone forgets the takbīr of consecration, he should pronounce it the moment he remembers and treat the prayer as beginning at that instant. Should the imam omit the opening takbīr and then complete the prayer, both his prayer and the prayer of those behind him are invalid; he must repeat it, and so must they. If he recalls the omission while still in the prayer—after the congregation have already entered the state of consecration—he breaks off the prayer and they do likewise, informs them of what has occurred, and they recommence with the iqāmah. Yet if he does not break off but instead begins the takbīr aloud and they follow him in it, their prayer is valid, for in reality he had not been in a valid prayer beforehand.

Whoever utters the inaugural takbīr before the imam is like one who has not yet entered the prayer at all. The follower should not say the takbīr until the imam has finished his; if he does so prematurely, he must repeat it after the imam without ending the prayer with salām or speaking.

If a follower, having forgotten the opening takbīr, says the takbīr for bowing, he should, according to the well-known view of the Mālikī school, proceed with his imam as a recommended course, then repeat the prayer afterwards as a binding obligation and precaution. By the measure of strict analogy, however, he ought to say the inaugural takbīr as soon as he remembers, perform whatever units he still catches, and make up what he has missed.

Mālik’s associates differ over the follower who forgets the opening takbīr and only remembers after praying part of the prayer with his imam. Yet their unanimous agreement that neither the solo worshiper nor the imam has a valid prayer without the act of consecration confirms the correctness of the principle applied in the follower’s case. The opinion most solidly supported by analogy, reflection, and transmitted evidence therefore remains the governing rule.