He also cited the general wording of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once finished a prayer in which he had recited aloud and said, “Why am I being contended with in the recitation of the Quran?” Abu Hurayrah said: The people then ceased reciting in those prayers in which the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited aloud. (1) He said: This is general in meaning.

He also argued that sound reasoning itself requires this: how can we tell the follower to recite while his imam is reciting? In that case, the imam’s audible recitation would be pointless and without benefit, for the purpose of the imam’s reciting aloud is that the follower listen attentively to him and follow him. In this way, complete conformity with the imam is attained. Yet, as the proverb says, “When Allah’s river comes, Ma‘qil’s river is rendered void.” If the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, finished the Fajr prayer—which is an audible prayer—and forbade them from reciting behind the imam except for al-Fatihah, then no one’s view can stand after that of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Otherwise, there is no doubt that the view which makes this distinction has a strong basis from the perspective of theoretical evidence. But one cannot adopt a position contrary to what is established by the hadith of ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit; rather, one must question one’s own judgment in dealing with the evidence.

Accordingly, the stronger view in this matter is that reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory for the follower in both silent and audible prayers. It is waived only if he joins the imam while he is bowing, or if he joins him while standing but does not have enough time to complete al-Fatihah before the imam bows. In that case, it is waived for him. (2)