291 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “The Prophet ﷺ would shorten the two rakʿahs performed before the dawn prayer so much that I would say, ‘Did he even recite Umm al-Kitāb (al-Fātiḥah)?’” Agreed upon. (1)

Vocabulary of the ḥadith:
– innī: with a kasrah on the hamzah.
– Umm al-Kitāb: al-Fātiḥah is called “Umm al-Kitāb” (“Mother of the Book”) because the ‘mother’ of a thing is its source; the surah gathers within it the fundamental meanings of the Quran.
– aqraʾa: al-Qurṭubī said, “This is not ʿĀʾishah wavering; rather, the Prophet ﷺ customarily lengthened voluntary prayers, so when he abbreviated the two rakʿahs of Fajr it seemed, by comparison with his other prayers, as though he had not recited at all.”