say “Allah is the Greatest” four, five, or six times (1). Zayd ibn Arqam said it five times and stated that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had done so. Muslim reported this (2).
Ali ibn Abī Tālib said it six times in the funeral prayer for Sahl ibn Hunayf (3). He would say it six times for those who had taken part in the Battle of Badr, five times for the other Companions, and four times for everyone else. Al-Dāraqutnī reported this (4).
Sa‘īd ibn Mansūr reported (5) that al-Hakam ibn ‘Utaybah said: “They would say ‘Allah is the Greatest’ five, six, or seven times for those who had taken part in the Battle of Badr.”
These reports are authentic, so there are no grounds for prohibiting this. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not prohibit saying it more than four times; rather, he himself did so, as did his Companions after him.
Among those who prohibited saying it more than four times (6), some cited the hadith of Ibn