Jami` at-Tirmidhi 219

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Ahmad ibn Mani narrated to us: Hushaym narrated to us: Yala ibn Ata informed us: Jabir ibn Yazid ibn al-Aswad al-Amiri narrated to us from his father, who said: I attended the Hajj with the Prophet and prayed the dawn prayer with him at the Mosque of al-Khayf. When he finished the prayer and turned away, he saw two men at the back of the people who had not prayed with him. He said: ‘Bring them to me.’ They were brought to him, their hearts trembling with fear. He said: ‘What prevented you from praying with us?’ They replied: ‘Messenger of Allah, we had already prayed at our lodging.’ He said: ‘Do not do that. When you have prayed at your lodging and then come to a mosque where a congregation is praying, pray with them; it will be a voluntary prayer for you.’

Reports on this subject are also related from Mihjan al-Dayli and Yazid ibn Amir. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Yazid ibn al-Aswad is hasan sahih. This was the view of more than one scholar, including Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Shafi‘i, Ahmad, and Ishaq: if a man prays alone and then catches the congregation, he repeats all prayers with the congregation. If he has prayed Maghrib alone and then catches the congregation, they said he prays it with them and adds one rakah, making it an even-numbered prayer. In their view, the prayer he prayed alone is the obligatory one.