praying sunnats near to the beginning of Jamaat

[aabassi]

Assalamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

Imam sahib, i need you to clarify something.

Having arrived in the Jamaat Khanna say 2/3 minutes before the Iqamah is prayed, and start to pray the sunnat. Then what if during the course of praying the sunnat, the iqamah has started and the Imam has already started the jamaat, do i then interrupt my sunnat by turning my head and saying salaam or do i finish my sunnat ?

I know that for Fajr its wajib to finish ones sunnat but i am talking about other salaat.

[Imam]

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,



All Praise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon our most Beloved Messenger of Islam Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa aalihi wa Sallam)


Jazak'Allah for your question. If a person has started to pray his Sunnah, 2/3 minutes before the Jama'ah, then because the Takbir-e-Ula is so important to attend, a person will have to end his Sunnahs, by the two. That means that if a person has read one Sunnah, then he must complete the other one, which will make him in a sitting position, in which he can now complete his Salah of Sunnahs with a Salaam.


If he is in a second Rak'ah of his Sunnahs, he can end what he intended to be four, into two, by doing the Salaam, at the end of the two. If he is in his third Rak'ah, then he may proceed onto his fourth, and complete his four cycles of Sunnahs. However, one must not do Salaam, in whichever position he is in, once he hears the Iqamah, or he hears the Takbir-e-Ula.


I hope that this answers the question that you have asked, and that you will not hesitate to contact me, in the event of future doubts.



Wallahu A'lamu Biththawaab



M. Waseem Ashrafi