Likewise, it is reported from Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr that he said: “It is from the Sunnah to place one hand over the other in prayer.” (1) A similar report has also come from Ali. (2) Here, what is meant is the recommended Sunnah. However, when the jurists say “Sunnah,” they mean only the recommended Sunnah, in order to clarify and distinguish for people between what is obligatory and indispensable and what is recommended and may be left undone.

For example: the opening supplication is a Sunnah; saying the basmalah is a Sunnah; seeking refuge with Allah is a Sunnah; saying “Amin” is a Sunnah; reciting something additional after al-Fatihah is a Sunnah; and saying more than the minimum glorification in bowing and prostration is a Sunnah. These are verbal Sunnahs. Reciting aloud where it is prescribed is a physical Sunnah, because reciting aloud is an attribute of the recitation. Likewise, lengthening the recitation is considered a physical Sunnah; whereas the material that is lengthened, or recited aloud, is verbal. Reciting quietly where it is prescribed is also a physical Sunnah.

His statement, “No prostration is prescribed for omitting it, though if one does prostrate, there is no harm,”—the phrase “is not prescribed” includes both what is obligatory and what is recommended. An obligation is described as prescribed, and a recommendation is described as prescribed, because each of them is sought from a person, and it is prescribed for him to do it.

Thus, his statement, “No prostration is prescribed for omitting it,” means that it is neither obligatory nor recommended.

An example of this is a man who forgets to recite the basmalah in al-Fatihah. If we adopt the view