perfection; but is it the perfection of what is obligatory, or the perfection of what is merely recommended?

As for the former, it is correct; as for the latter, it is false. Nothing of this kind exists in the speech of Allah or in the speech of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—nor can it be correct, for once the obligatory elements of an act are complete, how could the act itself still be negated?

Moreover, were such reasoning admissible, one could deny the validity of the prayers of most people, past and present, since attaining perfection in every recommended matter is exceedingly rare.

Accordingly, whenever the Qur’an or the Sunnah negates an action, the negation refers only to the loss of some of its obligatory components. Allah says: “But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge concerning that over which they disagree among themselves” (Q. 4:65). And He says: “They say, ‘We believe in Allah and in the Messenger, and we obey,’ but thereafter a group of them turns away; such people are not believers” (Q. 24:47). Verses of this sort are many.

The same principle applies to the Prophet’s ﷺ words: “He has no faith who is not trustworthy,” “There is no prayer without the Opening Chapter of the Book,” and “Whoever hears the call to prayer and does not respond—without a valid excuse—has no prayer.”

There is no doubt that these texts show that answering the mu’adhdhin who summons to the congregational prayer is an obligation.

Yet if someone neglects this duty, will he be punished for the omission while still rewarded for the prayer he performed, or must we declare the prayer invalid so that he must repeat it, as though he had not prayed at all? On this question the scholars have differed.” End of Ibn Taymiyyah’s words.

I say: In works other than this, Shaykh al-Islām inclined to the view that the prayer is invalid, whereas I have opted for the opposite position because of the ḥadith on superior merit, as I explained in the section on congregational prayer. He restricted the ḥadith to one who has an excuse—an understanding that, to my mind, is not what first comes to mind. Allah knows best.