that which is not obligatory, although it may indeed carry that meaning, as in his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Allah has prescribed fasting Ramadan for you, and I have instituted its night prayer for you.” Yet the term applies even more emphatically to the obligations he instituted than to voluntary acts. Thus, it is related in the Sahīh that Ibn Masūd, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Allah has prescribed for your Prophet the paths of guidance, and these prayers in congregation are among the paths of guidance. If you were to pray in your homes as this man who stays away prays in his home, you would abandon your Prophet’s Sunnah; and if you abandoned your Prophet’s Sunnah, you would go astray. I remember when no one among us would stay away from it except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was well known.” This usage is also seen in his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “You must follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs who come after me. Hold fast to it and bite down upon it with your molars.”

Another reason is that Allah, glorified and exalted be He, commanded in His Book that prayer be established, and He censured those who pray yet are heedless of it and neglect it. The Exalted said in more than one place: “Establish prayer” [al-Baqarah: 43]. Establishing it entails performing it fully to the extent one is able, as will appear in the hadith of Anas ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “Perform the bowing and prostration properly, for I can see you from behind my back.” In another narration: “Complete the bowing and prostration.” The implications of this will be explained later.

The evidence for this from the Quran is that He, glorified and exalted be He, said: “When you travel through the land, there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer if you fear that those who disbelieve may attack you” [al-Nisā’: 101] [al-Nisā’: 101]. Thus, Allah permitted a reduction in the number of its units and a reduction in