, Glory be to Allah!” But he did not sit down and remained standing. At the end of his prayer, he performed two prostrations while seated. After giving the closing salutation, he said: “I heard you saying ‘Glory be to Allah’ just now so that I would sit down, but what I did is the Sunnah.”

The hadith of Abd Allāh ibn Buhayna is to be preferred for three reasons:

First: it is more authentic than the hadith of al-Mughīra.

Second: it is more explicit. Al-Mughīra’s statement, “This is what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did,” may refer to everything al-Mughīra did. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, may have prostrated for this lapse on one occasion before the closing salutation and on another occasion after it (1). Ibn Buhayna would thus have related what he witnessed, and al-Mughīra what he witnessed, with both practices being permissible. Alternatively, al-Mughīra may have meant that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up without returning to the seated position, then performed the prostrations of forgetfulness.

Third: al-Mughīra may have forgotten to perform the prostrations before the closing salutation and therefore performed them (2) afterward. This is the Sunnah (3) in cases of forgetfulness. The same explanation cannot apply to prostrations performed before the closing salutation. And Allah knows best.

Section (4)

He gave the closing salutation after two rakʿahs in one of the two afternoon prayers, either the noon prayer or the afternoon prayer. He then spoke, completed the prayer, gave the closing salutation, and performed two prostrations after the salutation and the speech, saying “Allah is greatest” when