And if you have no group of latecomers with you and cannot reach another mosque in time, then join the imam even if he is already in the final tashahhud; do not count this as having caught anything, because the rukūʿ (bowing) has passed you by.

The Prophet’s ﷺ words, “then complete it,” are proof that when a latecomer rises to make up what he missed, he is completing the end of his prayer, not its beginning. So, if someone catches only the last two rakʿahs of ẓuhr (the noon prayer) and then stands to make up what remains, the two rakʿahs he now performs are deemed the final part of his prayer; in each of them he recites nothing beyond Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, for the sunnah in the last two rakʿahs is to confine oneself to al-Fātiḥah alone.

The author also cites the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them) in which the Prophet ﷺ set off from ʿArafah and heard behind him a loud uproar—people crying out, lashing and driving their camels, the animals braying—because in the pre-Islamic era they would leave ʿArafah at a frantic pace, striking their mounts hard in an effort to beat the fading daylight. The Prophet ﷺ gestured toward them with his whip and said, “People, keep to tranquillity (sakīnah),” meaning composure and calm, “for righteousness is not found in haste.” In other words, goodness is not achieved by reckless speed; īḍāʿ refers to a rapid gait. This shows that one ought not to rush when heading toward acts of worship, for those departing ʿArafah are on their way to Muzdalifah for an act of devotion.