I entered the mosque and since the fard prayer hadnt started I started praying two rakah sunnah. After I completed the reciting surah al Fateha in the first rakah, the muazzin started the iqamah, at this point I broke the sunnah and joined the jamat. I would like to know whether my act of breaking the sunnah prayer (as I just started it) on hearing the iqamah is correct or not. Hope to hear from you soon, jazak allah regards zubair

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

It is permissible for whoever started performing an optional prayer or a prayer of salutation to the mosque to interrupt his prayer when the Iqaamah (call to perform the obligatory prayer) for the congregational prayer is called. This is indeed legislated as the Prophet said: "If the Iqaamah is called, no prayer should be performed except the obligatory prayer." This applies to starting an optional prayer after the Iqaamah is called. Ibn Hajar said: "The scholars who are of the view that a person should interrupt an optional prayer when the Iqaamah for an obligatory prayer is called, supported their view with the Prophetic narration which reads: "… no prayer should be performed except the obligatory prayer." This applies also to a person who had started performing an optional prayer before the Iqaamah is called.

The evidence which proves this is that Ibn Buhaynah narrated: "The Iqaamah for the Fajr prayer was being called and the Prophet saw a man praying while the person who calls the Athaan was calling the Iqaamah, so he told him: ''Are you performing the Fajr prayer four Rak'ahs?" [Muslim] [This means that it would appear as if the person is praying four Rak'ahs (the two optional combined with the two obligatory)].

Furthermore, Ibn 'Abbaas narrated: "I was performing a prayer and the person who calls the Athaan started calling the Iqaamah so the Prophet pulled me (out of the prayer) and said: ''Are you performing the Fajr prayer four Rak'ahs?" [Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Habbaan, Al-Bazaar, Al-Haakim]

Allaah Knows best.