Question:

We have a prayer room at work, alhamdulillah. Sometimes brothers miss the jamat times and often a solitary brother begins praying at that particular time. If a newcomer enters the room, should he join the lone brother, whether he intended to read in jamat or not (and without the newcomer knowing for sure if he is reading the fard salah), or should he read on his own ?

Answer:

If he is certain that the praying brother is offering the Fard salah and is not a Masbuq it will be permitted to touch him on the shoulder and make him his Imam. In this way one will gain the reward of Jamaah. If however, later you discover he was actually praying Nafls or was a Masbuq from an earlier Jamaah one will need to repeat the prayer.

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.