If it is said: The number is a condition for the entire Jumu'ah (Friday prayer), and whenever the first group leaves, the Imam remains alone, thus it becomes void, just as if the number were to decrease. The answer is: This is permitted due to the excuse, and because he is waiting for the arrival of the other group, unlike dispersion. It is not permitted to deliver the khutbah (sermon) with one of the groups and pray with the other until those who attended the khutbah pray with him. Al-Shafi'i held this view.

Section: The first group is in the status of following [the Imam] before separating from the Imam. If he commits an inadvertent error (sahw), the ruling of his error applies to them regarding what occurred before his separation; and if they commit an error, the ruling of their error does not apply to them because they are followers. As for after separating from him: If he commits an error, the ruling of his error does not apply to them; and if they commit an error, the ruling of their error applies to them because they are individuals (praying alone). As for the second group, the ruling of their Imam's error applies to them throughout their entire prayer, both what they caught of it and what they missed, just like a masbuq (one who joins the prayer late), whom the ruling of his Imam's error applies to regarding what he did not catch. The ruling of their own error does not apply to them in any part of their prayer, because if they actually separate from him to complete what they missed, they are in the status of one who is following him, because they perform the taslim with his taslim. Thus, when they finish completing what they missed, he prostrates and they prostrate with him. If the Imam prostrates before they finish, they prostrate; because they are following him, it is incumbent upon them to follow him, and they do not repeat the prostration after finishing their tashahhud, because they have not separated from the Imam; therefore, no more prostration is required of them than what is required of him, unlike the masbuq. Al-Qadi said: This is based on the two reports regarding the masbuq if he prostrates with his Imam and then completes what is required of him, and we have already mentioned the difference between them.

315 - Issue: He said: "And if he fears while he is a resident, he prays two rak'ahs with each group, and the first group completes [its prayer] with the Hamd (Al-Fatihah) in each rak'ah, while the other group completes it with the Hamd and a surah." The entirety of this is that the Prayer of Fear is permissible while a resident if there is a need for that due to the enemy approaching close to the city. Al-Awza'i and Al-Shafi'i held this view. It was narrated from Malik that it is not permissible while a resident because the verse only indicated the prayer of two rak'ahs, while the resident's prayer is four, and because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not perform it while a resident. His companions disagreed with him and said the same as our view. Our evidence is the saying of Allah the Almighty: {And when you are among them and lead them in prayer...} [Surah An-Nisa: 102], and this is general for every situation. The Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) abstention from performing it while a resident was only because he had no need to perform it in that state. As for their statement that the verse only indicated two rak'ahs, we say: There may be two rak'ahs in residence, [such as] the Dawn prayer and the Jumu'ah, and the Maghrib is three. It is permissible to perform it during fear while traveling, and because it is a state of fear, the Prayer of Fear is permissible in it just as in travel. So, if he leads them in the four-rak'ah prayer as a Prayer of Fear, he divides them into two groups, and he prays two rak'ahs with each group. Does the first group separate from him during the first tashahhud, or when he stands for the third? There are two views: One is when he stands for the third, which is the opinion of Malik and Al-Awza'i; because he needs to prolong [the prayer] for the sake of waiting, and it is recommended to lighten the tashahhud. For that reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to be, when he sat for the tashahhud, as if he were on hot stones until he stood up. Also, because the reward of the one standing is greater, and because if he waits for them while sitting, and the [next] group arrives, he stands before their ihram (entry into prayer), so their following him in the standing does not materialize. The second is during the tashahhud, so that the second group catches the entire third rak'ah, and because waiting while sitting is lighter on the Imam, and because whenever he waits for them while standing, he would need to recite a surah in the third rak'ah, which is contrary to the Sunnah. Whichever he does is permissible. And when the Imam sits for the final tashahhud, the group sits with him and performs the first tashahhud, then stands while he is sitting to complete their prayer, and they recite the Hamd and a surah in each rak'ah; because what they are completing is the beginning of their prayer, and because they did not have the recitation of the surah with the Imam. The Imam prolongs the tashahhud.