Huzoor (rh): She has asked that if you have missed Zohar prayer, for instance you are on a journey or for some other reason, you have missed the Zohar prayer and you reach the mosque when the Asr prayer is being said [offered], if we reach the mosque during the Asr prayer what should we do? Should we say our Zohar prayer, which is the earlier prayer, before our Asr prayer or shall we say the Asr prayer with the Jamaat and say the Zohar afterwards?
Now if you know that the Asr prayer is being said by the Imam, then it is your duty first to say your Zohar prayer, which is the earlier prayer, by yourself. Having finished that, then you should join the Asr prayer being said in congregation. But if, for instance, the Imam is saying Asr and Zohar together, Jamaat, and you don’t know whether Asr is being said or Zohar is being said, you join the Imam and later on it turns out that he was saying the Asr prayer, not the Zohar. In that case, your prayer, despite your own intention to say the Zohar prayer, would be the prayer of the Imam, not yours. This is the principle which I want to establish and which you should always remember. An individual’s intention is always, as a rule, overridden by the intention of the Imam. So if the Imam is saying Asr prayer and you are saying, erroneously, Zohar prayer behind him, your Zohar will be nullified and it will be turned into Asr because the Imam’s intention is overriding the intention of those who follow. This is one of the most important principles in Islam. So if you join the Asr prayer as Zohar, your Asr will be said and Zohar will remain unsaid. So say it after the Asr. If you join the Asr prayer as Zohar, your Zohar will still be unsaid. The prayer of the Imam is yours. You will have to say Zohar later on.
