Hal yudrik al-mamum al-rakaah bi-idrakihi al-ruku ma al-imam - ضمن "Athar al-Muallimi
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- Dār ‘Ālam al-Fawā’id lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Hal yudrik al-mamum al-rakaah bi-idrakihi al-ruku ma al-imam (هل يدرك المأموم الركعة بإدراكه الركوع مع الإمام; Does the Follower Attain the Unit of Prayer by Catching the Bowing with the Imam?) is a legal and hadith treatise by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (d. 1386 AH / 1966 CE) . The work examines the classical juristic question of whether a latecomer (al-masbuq) who joins the congregational prayer while the imam is in the bowing posture (al-ruku') is considered to have completed that prayer cycle (al-rak'ah) .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was written after Muhammad Abd al-Razzaq Hamzah—a teacher at the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and director of Dar al-Hadith—presented al-Muallimi with his own written treatise arguing that a follower attains the rak'ah by catching the ruku' with the imam, and suggested that al-Muallimi write down his own conclusions on the issue . Al-Muallimi composed the work to critically engage with Hamzah's arguments and examine the relevant textual evidence .
Structure and Method
Al-Muallimi structured the treatise by first summarizing the five pieces of evidence adduced by Hamzah, and then analyzing them individually according to the methodology of hadith scholars (muhaddithun), investigating both their textual transmission and legal implications . Among the key topics covered in the work are:
- A detailed examination of the narration of Abu Bakrah regarding joining the prayer while the Prophet ﷺ was in ruku' .
- A linguistic and legal analysis of the term rak'ah in the prophetic tradition: من أدرك من الصلاة ركعة فقد أدركها ("Whoever catches a rak'ah of the prayer has caught it"), refuting the claim that rak'ah means ruku' in linguistic usage and Islamic law .
- A critical assessment demonstrating the weakness of the textual addition «قبل أن يقيم الإمام صلبه» ("before the imam straightens his spine") .
- The obligations of standing (al-qiyam) and reciting Surat al-Fatihah for the follower, drawing upon al-Bukhari's Juz al-Qira'ah .
Throughout the discussion, al-Muallimi incorporated critical verifications in hadith sciences and biographical evaluation (ilm al-rijal) . He concluded that although the majority position—held by several Companions—carries some weight, the evidence for it is not strong enough to restrict the general texts that mandate the full performance of the prayer's essential elements .
Transmission and Publication
Al-Muallimi's original autograph was gifted in the library of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to his student Muhammad Ahmad al-Muallimi in 1373 AH when the latter returned to Yemen . In 1395 AH, the author's nephew, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Muallimi, made an exact transcript from that manuscript before the original copy was subsequently lost . Based on this certified transcript, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qadir edited and published the work with Maktabat al-Irshad in Sanaa in 1414 AH . It was later included as the fourth treatise in Volume 16 of the compiled collection Athar al-Muallimi .
Answer updated