It has been narrated from him that he was among those who would not complete the takbir, and because a single takbir has been narrated from Zayd ibn Thabit and Ibn 'Umar, and no dissenter among the Companions is known for them. Thus, this constitutes an ijma' (consensus). Furthermore, it is because two obligatory acts of the same category have converged in a single place, one of which is a pillar (rukn), so it causes the other to drop, just as when a pilgrim performs the Tawaaf al-Ziyarah upon his departure from Mecca, it suffices him for the Tawaaf al-Wada'. The Qadi (al-Qadi Abu Ya'la) said: If he intends by the takbir the opening (ihram) alone, it suffices him; but if he intends by it both the opening and the bowing (ruku'), the manifest meaning of Ahmad's words is that it does not suffice him, because he combined an obligatory act with something else in his intention, similar to if one sneezes when raising his head from bowing and says: "Rabbana wa laka al-hamd" intending it [as both]. He said: And Ahmad explicitly stated regarding this that it does not suffice him. This view contradicts the texts of Ahmad, so it is not to be relied upon. He said in the report of his son Salih, concerning one who arrives while the Imam is bowing: He performs a single takbir. It was said to him: Does he intend by it the opening? He said: Whether he intends it or not, has he not come while wanting to pray? This is because the intention of bowing does not contradict the intention of the opening, and for this reason, we ruled that he entered the prayer with this intention, so the intention of bowing did not affect its validity. Also, because it is an obligatory act that suffices for itself and for another when intended, it does not prevent the validity of the intention for two obligatory acts, as if he intended by the Tawaaf al-Ziyarah [to satisfy both] for himself and for the Farewell [Tawaaf]. It is not permissible to abandon the text of the Imam and contradict it by analogy to what he stated in another place, just as the text of the Book of Allah the Almighty and His Messenger is not abandoned for an analogy. The recommended [practice] is two takbirs (19), as explicitly stated by Ahmad. Abu Dawud said: I said to Ahmad, is it more beloved to you that he performs two takbirs? He said: If he performs two takbirs, there is no disagreement in it.

Section: If he catches the Imam in a pillar other than the bowing, he should not perform any takbir except the opening takbir, and he should descend without a takbir, because it is not counted for him and he has missed the place of the takbir. If he catches him in the prostration (sujud) or the first sitting (tashahhud), he should perform the takbir while standing with the Imam to the third [rak'ah], because he is a follower of his, so he follows him in the takbir, just like one who caught the whole prayer with him. If the Imam gives the taslim, he stands to make up the missed parts with a takbir. This is the view of Malik, al-Thawri, and Ishaq. Al-Shafi'i said: He stands without a takbir, because he has already performed the takbir at the beginning of the rak'ah, and he has no Imam to follow (20) in the takbir. Our evidence is that he stood in the prayer to a pillar that is counted for him, so he performs the takbir, just like one rising from the first sitting, and just as if he stood with the Imam. We do not concede that he performed the takbir at the beginning of the rak'ah, for what he performed the takbir for was not part of the rak'ah, as there is no prostration or sitting at the beginning of the rak'ah; rather, the beginning of the rak'ah is in his standing, so it is appropriate that he performs the takbir in it.