A friend of mine was offering 2 rakahs sunnah after Maghrib in the Mosque, when a new comer joined him for Jamaah. My friend didn't know what to do as he was offering the Sunnah and he knew that the new comer was under the impression that he was offering fard. After the prayer my friend was still in the Mosque when the new comer finished his prayer and asked my friend why he had not been reading out loud as it was MAghrib. My friend informed him that he had been reading the Sunnah and therefore could not have read out loud. Could you please clarify with daleel [proof from Hadith/Sunnah] as to what should be done in such a situation where you are offering a Sunnah prayer and someone joins you thinking its Fard?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
There is
nothing wrong with one who is offering an obligatory prayer praying behind
one who is offering a naafil prayer. It is proven that Mu‘aadh ibn Jabal
(may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray ‘Isha’ with the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), then he would go back to his
people and lead them in praying ‘Isha’, and the prayer was naafil for him
and obligatory for them.
It was narrated
that Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Mu‘aadh ibn
Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray with the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), then he would go to his people
and lead them in prayer. And he would recite al-Baqarah. … The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Recite ‘By the sun and
its brightness’ [al-Shams 91:1], and ‘Glorify the Name of your Lord,
the Most High’ [al-A’la 87:1] and the like.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari
(5755) and Muslim (465).
Al-Nawawi
said:
In this hadeeth
we see that it is permissible for one who is offering an obligatory prayer
to pray behind one who is offering a naafil prayer, because Mu‘aadh used to
offer the obligatory prayer with the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him), so he discharged his duty, then he would pray the
second time with his people, so it was voluntary for him and obligatory for
them. This is stated clearly elsewhere than in Muslim, and this is
permissible according to al-Shaafa‘i (may Allah have mercy on him) and
others. End quote.
Sharh Muslim,
4/181
Secondly:
There is
nothing wrong with a person starting his prayer alone and then becoming an
imam when someone else joins him.
It was narrated
that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I stayed overnight
with my maternal aunt. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) got up to pray at night and I got up to pray with him. I stood on his
left and he took hold of my head and made me stand on his right.
Narrated by al-Bukhaari
(667) and Muslim (763).
Imam al-Bukhaari
included this report in a chapter entitled: If the imam did not intend to
lead others in prayer, then people join him so he leads them in prayer.
And it was
narrated that Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was praying in Ramadaan,
and I came and stood beside him, and another man came and stood too, until
there was a group of us. When the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) realized that I was behind him, he made his prayer brief.
Narrated by
Muslim (1104).
Some of the
scholars said that it is permissible to do this in naafil prayers, but not
in obligatory prayers. But the correct view is that it is valid in both
cases.
Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The correct
view is that that is permissible in both obligatory and naafil prayers. End
quote.
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa,
22/258
Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
But the correct
view is that it is valid in both obligatory and naafil prayers. With regard
to naafil prayers, it is mentioned in the text; with regard to obligatory
prayers, what is proven in the case of naafil prayers is also proven with
regard to obligatory prayers, unless there is evidence to the contrary.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti‘,
2/304
Thirdly:
If a person
starts to pray behind a man who has started to offer a naafil prayer, as in
the case asked about here, then the imam has the choice as to whether he
recites out loud or quietly. But if he intended to lead the prayer from the
outset, then he should recite out loud, because of the hadeeth of Mu‘aadh
(may Allah be pleased with him) quoted above.
And Allah knows best.
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