Chapter on the Rulings of Congregational Prayer (the Minimum Number for Congregational Prayer, the Description of the Imam, Who Is to Be Followed and Who Is Not to Be Followed, Recitation Behind Both of Them, the Rulings of Those Led in Prayer, and Other Such Rulings Related to It)

Al-Husayn ibn Said narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, from Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl, from Ishaq ibn Ammar, who said: I said to Abu Abdillah عليه السلام: “Indeed, I enter the mosque and find that the imam (of prayer) has already bowed in rukuh and the people have bowed as well, and I am not able to make the adhan, or the iqamah, or to say the takbir (to begin the prayer).” So Imam عليه السلام said to me: “When that happens, then enter with them in the rak’ah and count it as part of your prayer, for it is one of the most virtuous of your rak’ahs.” Ishaq then narrated: “So when I heard the adhan of Maghrib while I was sitting at my doorstep, I said to the servant, ‘Look and see, has the prayer been established?’” So he (the servant) came back to me and said: “Yes.” So I got up quickly and entered the mosque and found the people had already bowed, so I bowed with the first row that I caught and I counted it as part of my prayer. Then, after the prayer was concluded, I prayed four rak’ahs. Then I departed, and behold, five or six of my neighbors from among the Makhzumis and the Umayyads approached me. They sat me down and then said: “O Aba Hashim, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى reward you well on behalf of yourself, for by Allah سبحانه وتعالى, we have seen the opposite of what we had assumed about you and what was said regarding you.” I asked: “And what is that?” They said: “We followed you when you rose for the prayer, and we used to think that you did not follow the prayer with us. But now we found that you counted the prayer with us and prayed our prayer. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى be pleased with you and reward you with goodness.” I said to them: “Glory be to Allah سبحانه وتعالى! Is such a thing said about someone like me?” Then I realized that Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, had not commanded me except because he feared this and things like it for me.”