the notion that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) always recited it aloud, while most of the Companions neither reported this nor practiced it, is categorically impossible, [especially since] more than one of them is authentically reported to have denied that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did so, and no authentic report contradicts this without being open to interpretation. To maintain that it is never prescribed to recite it aloud—even though this is authentically reported from more than one Companion—amounts to attributing to the Companions the commission and tacit approval of a disliked act, even though audible recitation in a normally silent prayer is prescribed when circumstances call for it, as stated above. Likewise, to deem the Companions’ recitation of it disliked—despite the authentic reports concerning its recitation from the Companions, some of which are traced back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the fact that the Companions wrote it in the Quranic codex, and the fact that it would be revealed together with the surah—is deeply problematic. Moreover, if it is recited at the beginning of Solomon’s letter, then reciting it at the beginning of Allah’s Book is entirely fitting.

Thus, following the transmitted reports on this matter embodies balance, harmony, and the middle course, which is the best approach.

As for the length of the prayer, the hadith jurists favor the prayer that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) usually performed: a moderate, well-proportioned prayer in which the standing and sitting are kept relatively brief, the bowing and prostration are prolonged, and the bowing and prostration are made comparable in length to the upright postures following them. This is authentically established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). At the dawn prayer, he would recite between sixty and one hundred verses; at the noon prayer, about thirty verses; and at the afternoon and evening prayers, half that amount. Nevertheless, he would sometimes shorten the prayer from this length when circumstances called for it, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “I may begin the prayer intending to prolong it, but then hear a child crying, so I shorten it because of what