Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa BarakatuhuPraise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved, and Final Messenger of Islam Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa, (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa aalihi wa Sallam)First of all I would like to thank you for the question that you have posed, and my deepest apologies for the delay in answering your question. May Allah the Almighty give us all the tawfiq, of saying what is true, and may He prevent us from speaking that, which is false. (Amin)
The issue about entering the congregation late, and how much to perform afterwards, and what to recite, is not a complicated one. However, it does give us the opportunity to understand that no mistakes are made, correctly. The following examples have been given for being late in a four cycle prayer i.e.
Zohar,
'Asr, or
'Isha'. The word cycle has been used to mean
rak'ah.
Where a person joins in the congregation, and prays with the
Imam another three cycles, it means that he has been late for one cycle, that one cycle must be performed on his own, by standing up at the time the second
salam is said. At this stage, he will recite the
'thana' (subhanakallah humma). He will also recite the
fatiha, which is
wajib, and he will also recite two or three verses from the
Qur'an al kareem, which is also
wajib.
Where a person joins in the congregation, and prays with the imam another two cycles, it means that he has been late for another two cycles. The two cycles must be performed on his own, by standing up at the time of the second
salam. He should also recite the
thana, the
Fatiha, and a surah/ two or three verses from the
Qur'an, which are
wajib.
Where a person joins in the congregation, and prays with the Imam just one cycle, it means that he has been late for three cycles. The three cycles must be performed on his own, by standing up at the time of the
salam. In the first cycle on his own, he must recite the
thana, the
fatiha and a
surah. But after he has sat down. He will stand up after the
tashahhud, and recite the
fatiha, and a
surah, in the remaining cycles. He will then complete his
Salaah as normal.
Where a person joins in the congregation, and is late for even the fourth cycle, i.e. He has met the congregation in the
tashahhud, he will stand up, when the imam says the second salam. He shall perform all four cycles on his own, by reciting the
thana, the
fatiha, and a
surah, in the first, the
fatiha and a
surah in the second, and for the third and fourth, merely the
fatiha may suffice.
It also is worth noting that a person is late for a cycle, when he does not reach the
ruku' position, of the congregation. If he joins in the
ruku' position, then he has performed that cycle.
Another note to make is that when you join the congregation, you do not even have to make the intention, or recite the
thana, as this will be performed afterwards, if you are late. The purpose is to join the congregation at once, without fidgeting, talking, as you are missing out, on the reward, for the
takbir-e-ula, the first
takbir.When joining the congregation, you must say
Allahu Akbar, by raising your hands to the ears, and then join in whatever position the congregation is in. If they are in
tashahhud, you must be in
tashahhud, if they are in
ruku', then you must be in
ruku.May Allah the Almighty give us all the tawfiq, to pray five times Salaah with congregation, whenever, and wherever we are. May He not deprive us of this blessing which He has bestowed upon us. (Amin)Wallahu A'amu Biththawaab
M. Waseem Ashrafi
