Analysis of 16 Evidences Regarding the Rak‘ah of One Who Joins During Rukū‘
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Page 367
❖ Ruling on the Rakʿah of One Who Catches the Imam in Rukūʿ
Question:
Does the Rakʿah count for one who joins the prayer while the Imam is in Rukūʿ?
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā Baʿd!
There are two scholarly positions on this issue:
✿ First Opinion: The Rakʿah is Counted if Rukūʿ is Caught
Review of Their Evidences:
① Ḥadīth: “مَن أدرَكَ الرَّكعةَ فقَد أدرَكَ الصَّلاةَ“
Narration:
“If you arrive while we are in Sujūd, then perform Sujūd but do not count it, and whoever catches the Rakʿah has caught the prayer.”
Sources: Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Khuzaymah: 1622, Ḥākim: 1/216, 273, 276, Dāraqutnī: 1/347 Ḥ1299, Bayhaqī: 2/88
Status of the Chain:
Narrator Yaḥyā ibn Abī Sulaymān is Munkar al-Ḥadīth
- Imām Bukhārī: “Munkar al-Ḥadīth” (Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah: 239)
- Ibn Khuzaymah: “The heart is not content with this chain.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah: 3/57–58)
Comment:
This narration indicates the general act of catching prayer, not specifically regarding catching the Rukūʿ.
② Narration: “إذا جئتم والإمام راكع فإركعوا…”
Bayhaqī’s Version:
Narrated via: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rufayʿ from a man from the Prophet ﷺ.
(Bayhaqī: 2/89)
Status of the Chain:
The narrator “a man” is unknown, not established as a Ṣaḥābī.
In another narration (Bayhaqī: 2/296), the phrase is “Shaykh from the Anṣār”, who is also unknown. The narration is also Muʿanʿan.
③ Narration: “مَن أدرَكَ ركعة من الصلاة فقد أدرَكها قبل أن يقيم الإمام صلبه“
Narrators:
Yaḥyā ibn Ḥamīd, Qurrāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Ibn Shihāb, Abū Salamah, Abū Hurayrah
Comment:
Qurrāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān is weak according to the majority.
(Fatāwā al-Dīn al-Khāliṣ, Vol. 4, p. 218)
④ Statement of Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه
“Whoever does not catch the Imam in Rukūʿ has not caught that Rakʿah.”
(Bayhaqī: 2/90)
Chain Status:
ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim is weak and criticized.
In another chain, Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī is a Mudallis.
⑤ Fatwā of Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه
Sources: Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/99, Ṭaḥāwī: 1/223, Bayhaqī: 2/90
Chain Status:
Chain is authentic, but it’s a fatwā, not a marfūʿ narration.
⑥ Fatwā of Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما
Source: Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/243
Comment:
Weak due to Tadlīs of Ḥafṣ and Ibn Jurayj.
A weak supporting narration also found in Bayhaqī: 2/90.
⑦ Statement: “He only caught the Sujūd”
Narrated from: Zayd ibn Thābit & Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهم
(Bayhaqī: 2/90)
Chain Status:
Munqaṭiʿ — Imām Mālik did not mention an intermediary.
⑧ Contrary View from Imām Bukhārī:
“It does not suffice unless you catch the Imam standing before he goes into Rukūʿ.”
(Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah: 132)
⑨ Statement of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه:
“None of you should bow until he recites al-Fātiḥah.”
(Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah: 133 — Authentic Chain)
⑩ Ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه would join the row during Rukūʿ
Source: Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/256 Ḥadīth 2631
Comment:
Chain is weak due to Ibn Taymīm
⑪ Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه joined the row in Rukūʿ
Source: Bayhaqī: 2/90
Comment:
Weak due to Tadlīs and disconnection from Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
⑫ Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه joined the Rakʿah by walking
Source: Musnad Aḥmad: 5/42 Ḥ20435
Comment:
Weak due to Bashshār ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and disconnection in chain
⑬ Practice of Tābiʿīn:
Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, Maymūn, al-Shaʿbī
(Source: Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/243–244)
Comment:
Rejected due to contradiction with Ṣaḥābah’s statements and Marfūʿ narrations
⑭ Ḥadīth: “Do not rush before me into Rukūʿ…”
Source: Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 619 — Ḥasan chain
Comment:
Not a direct evidence for this issue, but some jurists used it
(ʿUmdat al-Qārī: 3/153)
⑮ Saying Two Takbīrs
Narrators: ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr & Zayd ibn Thābit
(Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/242)
Comment:
Weak due to Tadlīs of al-Zuhrī, thus not a valid proof
⑯ Practice of Abū ʿUbaydah and his father
Source: Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/255
Comment:
Munqaṭiʿ — Abū ʿUbaydah did not hear directly from his father
Narration:
Narrators: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rufayʿ from Ibn Mughafal al-Muzanī
(Sources: Masāʾil Aḥmad wa Isḥāq: 1/127/1, al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 1188)
Comment:
Chain is disconnected in both cases
✿ Second Opinion: The Rakʿah Is
Evidences:
✔ Two obligatory elements are missed:
① Qiyām (Standing)
② Sūrat al-Fātiḥah
Ḥadīth:
“There is no prayer for the one who does not recite Sūrat al-Fātiḥah.”
Narration:
“Do not perform it except with the Mother of the Book, for there is no prayer for the one who does not recite it.”
(Source: Kitāb al-Qirāʾah of al-Bayhaqī)
Chain Status:
- Nāfiʿ ibn Maḥmūd is reliable
- Declared trustworthy by: al-Dāraqutnī, al-Bayhaqī, Ibn Ḥibbān, Ibn Ḥazm, al-Dhahabī, and others
✔ View of Imām Bukhārī and other Prominent Scholars
According to Imām Bukhārī and several great scholars, the Rakʿah of the one who catches only Rukūʿ is not valid.
For more details:
Refer to the treatise of Mawlānā Muḥammad Munīr Qamar (ḥafiẓahullāh):
“Rakʿah Caught During Rukūʿ — Analysis of Both Sides’ Evidences”
(Māhnāmah al-Ḥadīth, Issue 30, 26 Rajab 1427 AH)
✅ Conclusion:
There exists a difference of opinion on the issue of whether the Rakʿah is valid for one who catches only the Rukūʿ. However, in light of authentic evidences, the second opinion appears stronger:
If a person misses both Qiyām and Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, that Rakʿah will not be counted.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
