Catching the imam in the last unit of the sunset prayer

By Ibn Baz, Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah

حكم من أدرك الإمام في الركعة الأخيرة

A question from a worshipper who joined the imam in the last unit of the sunset prayer and sat with him for the final sitting, asking how to complete his prayer; Ibn Baz answered that after the imam's closing salutation he performs a second unit, then sits after it for the first sitting, then rises and performs a third unit reciting al-Fatiha, before the final sitting and salutation.

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Summary

A question from a latecomer who caught the imam in the last unit of the sunset prayer, in which Ibn Baz answered that after the imam's salutation he performs a second unit, sits after it for the first sitting, then rises for a third unit with al-Fatiha. 1

The question

The questioner said he arrived in the last unit of the sunset prayer and caught that unit and the final sitting with the imam, so that his own second unit fell at the place of the sitting; he asked how to complete his prayer. 1

The answer

Ibn Baz answered that he sits after the second unit, which he performs after the imam's salutation, and recites the first sitting's formula, then rises and performs a third unit in which he recites al-Fatiha. 1

About this record

This answer was published on binbaz.org.sa, the official site of Ibn Baz's legacy, as no. 4085 under the heading of congregational prayer, with no date on the page. 1 The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.

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About
Salah (the prescribed prayer)· Imamat al-salat (leading the prayer, the lesser imamate)

People and things also explored

The five pillars of Islam· Muslim 397 — Go back and pray, you have not prayed· Muslim 591 — Thrice-istighfar after prayer then 'You are Peace'· Muslim 650 — Congregational prayer exceeds by twenty-seven degrees· Muslim 651 — The heaviest prayers for the hypocrites· Muslim 725 — The two dawn rak'as beat the world and all in it· Muwatta 1· Muwatta 2

Sources

  1. BinBaz.org.sa , fatwa 4085

Original page

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Catching the imam in the last unit of the sunset prayer”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/fatwa-binbaz-joining-the-imam-in-the-last-unit-of-maghrib/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-02.

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The five pillars of Islam

The five acts on which Islam is built according to the sound hadith: the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger, establishing prayer, paying zakat, pilgrimage and fasting Ramadan.