Therefore, I say: Everyone who claims to follow the sunnah and the guidance of the righteous predecessors has no right to leave the imam when he prays twenty-three rak'ahs and say, “I shall follow the sunnah and pray eleven,” for you have been commanded to follow your imam and forbidden from differing from him; you have not, however, been forbidden from praying more than eleven.

Students of knowledge in particular, and people in general, must strive for agreement as far as possible. For the dearest wish of the people of immorality and atheism is that the people of goodness should fall into disagreement, because there is no weapon more destructive than division. Moses said to the magicians:

“Woe to you! Do not fabricate a lie against Allah, lest He destroy you with a punishment. Whoever fabricates lies has surely failed.” So they disputed among themselves over their affair. [Ta-Ha 20:61–62]

Once they disputed, they lost heart and their strength departed.

Thus, this disagreement that we find among some brothers who are keen to follow the sunnah, in this matter and others, is, in my view, contrary to the sunnah and contrary to what the Sacred Law intends: unity of purpose and the cohesion of the ummah. For this matter—praise be to Allah—is neither prohibited nor reprehensible; rather, it is a matter in which independent legal reasoning is valid. Therefore, for us to generate disagreement, fill hearts with enmity, rancour, and mockery of those who differ with us in a view that is valid and does not contradict the sunnah—this is wrong. A person must strive to preserve unity as far as he can.

Even joining the imam in the supplication upon completing the Quran is unobjectionable, for Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, and some scholars expressly stated that it is recommended to make the concluding supplication after finishing the Quran and before bowing. Although it is among