what he ﷺ actually (1) did. As for Abū Qatādah’s hadith, it may mean that he would (2) confine his recitation to al-Fātihah, or that he never omitted it in the last two prayer units, but recited it in them just as he did in the first two, thus reciting al-Fātihah in every prayer unit. Nevertheless, Abū Qatādah’s hadith more clearly suggests that he confined his recitation to it, since it distinguishes between the two pairs of prayer units. Thus, if he says, “He would recite al-Fātihah and a surah in the first two, and al-Fātihah in the last two,” this is almost an explicit statement (3) that each pair was confined to the recitation mentioned for it.
On this basis, one may say that this was his usual practice, although he sometimes recited something beyond al-Fātihah in the last two prayer units, as indicated by Abū Saʿīd’s hadith. Similarly, his ﷺ usual practice was to prolong the recitation in Fajr, although he sometimes shortened it; to shorten the recitation in Maghrib, although he sometimes prolonged it; to omit the qunūt supplication in Fajr, although he sometimes offered it; to recite quietly in Zuhr and ʿAsr, although he sometimes let the Companions hear a verse (4); and not to recite the basmalah aloud (5), although he sometimes did so (6). And Allah knows best.
(1) In qāf and kāf, the word was corrupted to tafsīr (“explanation”); the printed editions read tafsīr nafs. Apparently, someone entered the correct reading in a manuscript’s margin, and a copyist mistook it for an addition to the text, thus combining the corrupted word and its correction in his copy!
(2) The verb kāna (“would”) is omitted in kāf.
(3) Qāf reads ka-l-tasrīh (“like an explicit statement”).
(4) Recorded by al-Bukhārī (762) and Muslim (451), from the hadith of Abū Qatāda.
(5) Recorded by al-Bukhārī (743) and Muslim (399), from the hadith of Anas.
(6) Recorded by al-Tirmidhī (245), al-Dāraqutnī (1162), and al-Bayhaqī (2/47). Its chain includes Abū Khālid al-Wālibī, an unknown narrator (majhūl). Al-Tirmidhī said: “Its chain of transmission is not particularly strong.” Ibn ‘Adī said in al-Kāmil, in the entry on Ismā‘īl ibn Hammād ibn Abī Sulaymān (2/120): “This hadith is narrated only by Mu‘tamir, and it is not reliably preserved, whether he says ‘from Abū Khālid’ or ‘from ‘Imrān ibn Khālid.’ Both are unknown.” Al-‘Uqaylī said in al-Du‘afā’, in the entry on Ismā‘īl ibn Hammād ibn Abī Sulaymān (1/257): “His hadith is not reliably preserved, and he relates it from an unknown narrator.” He then cited the hadith referenced above and said: “No hadith with a chain of transmission concerning reciting the basmalah aloud is authentic.” Ibn Rajab discussed this issue at length; see his Fath al-Bārī (4/286–302).