If a person who has started to follow the imam later gets up and continues the prayer after the imam salutes to the right and performs sajdah as-sahw, what should he (masbuq) do?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Should a masbuq follow the imam if the imam performs sajdah as-sahw?

According to the unanimous agreement of fiqh scholars, a masbuq (a person who catches up with prayer later) follows the imam in sajdah as-sahw at the end of the prayer; when the imam salutes, he gets up and completes the part that he has missed; he does not repeat sajdah as-sahw at the end of the prayer. (Fatawa al-Hindiyya - Ibn Abidin)

Even if a lahiq (a person who starts the prayer with the imam, leaves the prayer and then starts to follow the imam again after a while) performs sajdah as-sahw with the imam, he still has to perform sajdah as-sahw again at the end of the prayer. The prostration performed with the imam is not enough.

A masbuq, on the other hand, does not get up as soon as the imam salutes; he waits for a while to see whether the imam will perform sajdah as-sahw, and then stands up. (Al-Muhit / Radiyuddin Sarakhsi - Sharhu Fathil-Qadir)

If a masbuq stands up and starts to perform the rak’ahs he has missed ­before the imam performs sajdah as-sahw, he will perform sajdah as-sahw at the end of the prayer. If the masbuq has not completed the rak’ah with sajdah, according to the majority of fiqh scholars, he will return and perform sajdah as-sahw with the imam. Then, he stands up and completes the rak’ahs he has missed.

In that case, if he does not return to follow the imam, his prayer is still valid. However, if he does not return and follow the imam, it is wajib for him to perform sajdah as-sahw at the end of the prayer. It is a permission given according to the principle of istihsan.

If a masbuq completes a rak’ah with sajdah and returns to follow the imam in sajdah as-sahw, his prayer is invalidated and he has to perform it again. (Siraj al-Wahhaj / Halwani.)

If the imam makes a mistake and performs sajdah as-sahw in the prayer of fear, the second group follows him, and the first group performs sajdah as-sahw after completing the prayer. (Bahr ar-Raiq / Ibn Nujaym)

A lahiq does not perform sajdah as-sahw in the part in which he performs afterwards but a masbuq does it. If the masbuq’s imam does not perform sajdah as-sahw though he makes a mistake, and ­then if the masbuq makes a mistake while performing the part that he has missed, two prostrations are enough for those two mistakes.

After the imam makes a mistake in prayer and his wudu is invalidated and he makes a masbuq the imam, the masbuq completes the prayer but ­he does not salute; maybe he makes someone who follows the imam at the beginning of the prayer the imam; when he salutes and performs sajdah as-sahw, the masbuq follows him and performs sajdah as-sahw; then, he stands up and completes the rak’ahs he has missed. (Al-Muhit / Radiyuddin Sarakhsi.)

(Celal Yıldırım, Kaynaklarıyla İslam Fıkhı, Uysal Kitabevi: 1/427-428)

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