How does a person who catches up with the imam after the first rak’ah (third rak’ah) in a four-rak’ah prayer (masbuq) complete his prayer?

How should a person who catches up with the imam in the qiyam of the second rak’ah complete his prayer? Should he read an additional chapter or verses after al-Fatiha? How should a person who catches up with the imam in the third ak’ah complete his prayer?

Dear Brother / Sister,

A person who cannot catch up with the imam in the first rak'ah is called a masbuq. A masbuq follows the imam but in the last sitting, he reads only at-Tahiyyat and keeps silent; he does not read salawat and supplications. He can read at-Tahiyyat slowly till the imam ends the prayer. When the imam salutes to the right side, he does not salute and waits for the imam to salute to the left. After the imam salutes to the left, he stands up and completes the rak'ah(s) he has missed.

A person who catches up with the imam in the second rak'ah stands up by saying Allahu Akbar after the salutation of the imam. He reads Subhanaka, al-Fatiha and an additional chapter or verses from the Quran and sits after performing ruku' and sajdahs. He salutes after reading at-Tahiyyat, salawats and duas.

A person who catches up with the imam in the third rak'ah performs two more rak'ahs when he stands up by reading al-Fatiha, and an additional chapter or some verses from the Quran.

A person who catches up with the imam in the fourth rak'ah stands up after the salutation of the imam and reads al-Fatiha and an additional chapter or some verses from the Quran performing one rak'ah and sits. After reading at-Tahiyyat, he stands up and performs two more rak'ahs. In the first rak'ah, he reads al-Fatiha and an additional chapter or some verses. In the second rak'ah, he reads only al-Fatiha. What one should note here is to perform the first and second rak'ahs in which al-Fatiha and an additional chapter or some verses from the Quran are read first while praying alone because he has caught up with the imam in the fourth rak'ah in which only al-Fatiha is read. Two rak'ahs with al-Fatiha and an additional chapter or some verses from the Quran and one rak'ah with only al-Fatiha remain. Therefore, after the salutation of the imam, he needs to read al-Fatiha and an additional chapter or some verses from the Quran in the first two of the remaining three rak'ahs and only al-Fatiha in the last rak'ah.

A person who catches up with the imam in the third rak'ah of the three-rak'ah prayers like the evening and witr prayers stands up after the imam salutes and performs one rak'ah by reading al-Fatiha and an additional chapter or some verses from the Quran. Then, he sits down. After reading at-Tahiyyat, he stands up and performs one rak'ah by reading al-Fatiha and an additional chapter or some verses from the Quran. Then he sits down and salutes.

Questions on Islam