When the Imam Stands for an Extra Rak'ah and Does Not Returnإذا قام الإمام لركعة زائدة ولم يرجع

Questioner: (audio unclear) He prayed 'Asr, and in the third he sat (audio unclear), and the followers said "subhan Allah," and he did not (audio unclear), and the followers were certain — do they separate from him, or (audio unclear)?

(An exchange with an attendee; audio unclear.) Perhaps he left something that was obligatory for him.

The brother asks three questions. The first question concerns an imam who led the followers in four [rak'ahs], then stood for a fifth, while the followers were certain of the addition, and the imam (audio unclear) did not return. This has [several] cases.

The first case: that the imam had left a condition among the conditions of the prayer — for example, (audio unclear) he forgot al-Fatihah and remembered it afterward. In reality he (audio unclear) a rak'ah, and in that case they follow him, on the basis that the imam's rak'ah was invalidated; these [followers] follow him. In this scenario, when they say "subhan Allah," he ought to signal with his hand: "Stand, stand — the previous rak'ah was invalidated," and therefore standing is necessary.

The second case: that the follower is certain that there is no mistake and no missed condition, and that this is merely forgetfulness on the part of the imam — they said "subhan Allah" to him, and he did not return. In this case, they sit and supplicate until he completes the rak'ah, and then they follow him.

The third case: that the follower does not know what happened — the follower does not know what happened, nor does he know whether [the imam] left something or left a condition; he has no knowledge of the matter. This is in fact the most common; the previous scenario may be rare. In this scenario, (audio unclear) they follow him, because he may have left one of the conditions.

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