If a person comes for the prayer after the Imam and he joins, he or she joins, for example in the Asr prayer, joins in the third rakaat and he or she completes third and fourth and after the Imam has said Assalam-o-Alaikum, he or she has to complete. What will be the treatment of those two rakaats, will the two rakaats he or she has said will be the same as the Imam and his two earlier he or she has not completed?
The fact is that the Imam’s intention prevails over the intention of those who follow. This is the general law. If the Imam is saying the last two rakaats, the one who follows him, his rakaats would also be the last two rakaats, not the first two. The first two have already been said by the Imam. So after that he will start from the beginning the rakaats which have been missed. He has missed the first two rakaats, not the last two. So he will say them in the same order, first and second. I think everyone else… What I understand is that his two rakaats which he or she has said with the Imam will be his or her first, two first, and then he will follow.
I say the Imam’s intention prevails over the intention of the follower. This is the general rule. Even if the Imam is saying Asr prayer and somebody thinks it is the Zohr prayer and he has to say Zohr prayer, if he joins such an Imam who is performing the Asr prayer instead, his prayer would be Asr prayer, the one he would say after that Imam, despite his own intention to the contrary. So such is the strength of the Imam’s intention and this is also a lesson to the community traditions of Islam, that you follow the Imam and you never go any step ahead of the Imam. You have to remain behind him.
So when this is applicable to Zohr and Asr, also it is applicable internally to every prayer whatever the name be. Still it’s not clear to you. I can see that on your face. No, it’s clear, what I understand is the Imam has said he joins the last two rakats and then he will have to repeat those left, the first two rakats. Exactly, that’s right. Is it clear now? Yes.
