Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām 3, narration 78

Translation

Sa’ad ibn Abdullah from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn from ‘Abbad ibn Sulayman from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from Sulayman from Hafs ibn Ghiyath, he said: I heard Abu Abdillah (a.s), peace be upon him, say regarding a man who caught the Friday prayer and the people were crowded, and he said the takbir along with the (just) imam and bowed (in ruku‘), but was not able to prostrate due to the crowding. Then the imam (of prayer) and the people stood up for the second rak‘ah, and he stood with them. The imam (of prayer) bowed, but he was not able to bow in the second rak‘ah because of the crowding, yet he was able to prostrate what should he do? Abu Abdillah (a.s), peace be upon him, said: “As for the first rak‘ah, it is complete up to the point of bowing (ruku‘), but since he did not prostrate for it until he had entered into the second rak‘ah, that (first rak‘ah) was not valid for him. Then, when he prostrated in the second rak‘ah if he intended that this prostration was for the first rak‘ah, then the first rak‘ah is complete for him. So when the imam (of prayer) finishes with the salam, he stands and prays one rak‘ah, in which he prostrates, then performs the tashahhud and the salam. But if he did not intend that the prostration was for the first rak‘ah, then neither the first nor the second rak‘ah is valid for him. In that case, he must perform two prostrations and intend them for the first rak‘ah, and after that he must perform a complete second rak‘ah in which he prostrates.” Hafs said: “So I asked Ibn Abi Layla about it, but he did not criticize it nor come close (to answering it). And I heard one of their followers asking Ibn Abi Layla about the Friday prayer, whether it is obligatory upon a woman, a slave, and a traveller. So Ibn Abi Layla said: “The Friday prayer is not obligatory upon any of them, nor upon the one who is afraid.” The man then said to him (Ibn Abi Layla): “What do you say if one of them attends the Friday prayer with the imam (of prayer) and prays it with him; does that prayer suffice for the Dhuhr of that day?” He replied: “Yes.” So the man said to him: “And how can something which Allah (swt) has not made obligatory upon him, suffice for that which Allah (swt) has made obligatory upon him? You have said that the Friday prayer is not obligatory upon him, and whoever it is not obligatory upon, the obligation upon him is to pray four units. It follows, then, from your view, that Allah (swt) has made four obligatory upon him, so how can two rak‘ahs suffice for him? And from this it also follows that whoever enters into that which Allah (swt) has not obligated upon him, it does not suffice him for what Allah (swt) has obligated upon him.” So Ibn Abi Layla had no answer for it, and the man requested him to explain it, but he refused. Then I asked him about it, and he explained it to me. He said: “The answer to that is that Allah (swt), Mighty and Majestic, has made it obligatory upon all believing men and women, and granted a concession to the woman, the traveller, and the slave not to attend it. But when they are present at it, the concession falls away, and the original obligation becomes incumbent upon them. For that reason, it suffices them.” So I asked: “From whom is this (explanation)?” He said: “From our master Abu Abdillah (a.s), peace be upon him.”

Translation: Haydar Ali Shaykh ibn Muhammad — published with the edition, reproduced verbatim.