If a person missed asr (afternoon prayer), and when he arrived to the masjid he found maghrib (sunset prayer) has started, what should he do?
Praise be to Allah.Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taimiyya (may the mercy of Allah
be upon him) said that he should pray maghrib with the imam (prayer
leader), then pray asr afterwards, as agreed upon by all leading scholars.
The question of does he repeat maghrib has two scholarly opinions: the
first is that he repeats. This is the saying of Ibn Omar, Malik, Abi Hanifa
and Ahmad in what is most well-known about this issue. The second opinion is
that he does not repeat. This is the saying of Ibn Abbas, the Shafiei madhab,
and the second opinion of Ahmads school of thought.
The latter is more correct, for Allah did not make it obligatory
on the person to pray a salaat twice if he has feared Allah as much as
he can (wallahu a'lam [and Allah knows best]).1
From the book What Should You Do in
the Following Situations... ?
1 Majmooa Fatawi Ibn Taimiyya
22/106.