Is the prayer of a person who does not follow the imam properly in sajdah and ruku’ (who acts before or after the imam) valid according to Shafii madhhab?

I follow Shafii madhhab. When I follow the imam in a prayer, if I cannot catch up with the imam in sajdah, does my prayer become invalid and do I leave the congregation? Is the same thing valid for ruku’?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is necessary for a person who follows the imam to act in accordance with the imam and to follow him for the imamate to be sound and valid. It is necessary for a person who follows the imam to follow the imam in the following deeds:

a) A person who follows the imam has to follow him when he utters takbir of iftitah. If he utters even only one letter of this takbir before the imam or together with him, his prayer becomes invalid. If a person doubts whether he has uttered the takbir of iftitah before the imam or not when he is still in prayer, his prayer is invalidated. However, if he doubts it after the prayer is completed, his prayer is valid and it does not have to be performed again.   

b) A person who follows the imam must not salute before the imam. If he does so, his prayer is invalidated; if he salutes together with the imam, it is makruh but his prayer is valid; if he doubts whether he has saluted before the imam, his prayer is invalidated.

c) A person who follows the imam must not do two actual rukns before the imam. It is necessary for a person who follows the imam to do the actual rukns after the imam for his prayer to be valid. The Prophet (pbuh) states the following in a hadith: 

"The imam becomes imam so that he will be followed." (Bukhari, Salat, 18)

If a muqtadi (a person who is following the imam in a prayer) does the actual and verbal rukns together with the imam, it does not harm the prayer and it is not a sin. However, it is makruh since it causes the thawab of congregation to be missed. Nevertheless, the takbir of iftitah is different. If it is uttered together with the imam, it is not regarded to have been uttered.  

Similarly, if a muqtadi does two actual rukns before or after the imam without any excuse, his prayer is invalidated. For instance, if a muqtadi bows down for ruku’ when the imam is standing without waiting for him and then prostrates, his prayer is invalidated. Or, if the muqtadi still stands when the imam bows down for ruku’ and prostrates, his prayer is invalidated. (Zuhayli, al-Fiqhul-Islami, 2/1256; Shirbini, Mughnil-Muhtaj, 1/505)

If the imam’s qira’ah is normal and the muqtadi’s qira’ah is slow, and if the muqtadi cannot catch up with the imam in ruku’ and sajdahs because of this, his delay is forgiven and his prayer is valid.

If a person who follows the imam forgets to read al-Fatiha and remembers it before the imam bows down for ruku’, his prayer is not invalidated if he stands to read al-Fatiha and delays for up to three rukns. If he remembers that he has not read al-Fatiha after the imam bows down for ruku’, he does not go back but follows the imam; he performs one more rak’ah after the imam salutes and reads al-Fatiha in it. 

If a muqtadi waits for the imam to keep silent after al-Fatiha and if the imam goes on reading and bows down for ruku’ before the muqtadi finishes reading al-Fatiha, the muqtadi is regarded as excused and he does not have to follow the imam in ruku’. On the contrary, he has to read al-Fatiha. Therefore, his delay in three rukns, that is, one ruku’ and two sajdahs, is forgiven; this delay does not invalidate his prayer.

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