[Abū Dāwūd] al-Tayālisī, who said: “In our view, this is false. If the report has been accurately preserved, perhaps Ibn Abzā prayed behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at the rear of the mosque. The Prophet’s voice was faint, so Ibn Abzā did not hear his takbīrs and assumed that he had not pronounced them in full. Otherwise, the mass-transmitted hadiths from him state the contrary; if this report contradicted them, it would be anomalous and unworthy of consideration.”
Despite this, many later jurists believe that pronouncing the takbīr in full simply means pronouncing it, even silently, and that Alī ibn Abī Tālib, Abū Hurayra, and other imams merely taught people to pronounce the takbīr during the transitions. The necessary implication is that Muslims at large did not know that takbīr was pronounced in prayer when lowering or rising.
This is unquestionably wrong, and no one familiar with the circumstances disputes it. If silent takbīr were intended, it could neither validly be denied nor affirmed, since a follower cannot know whether his imam has pronounced it. Nor can the expression “omitting the takbīr” mean omitting it altogether, for the imams pronounced the opening takbīr but not those at the transitions. This is contrary to the sunnah. Rather, the transmitted hadiths show that every rising and lowering of the imam was accompanied by takbīr.
Ishāq ibn Mansūr said: “I asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal, ‘Which takbīrs did they omit?’ He replied, ‘When one descends from bowing into prostration, and when one is about to perform the second prostration in each unit.’”
Imam Ahmad thus explained that the imams did not pronounce the takbīr in full; rather, they omitted it when lowering from standing and from sitting. That is indeed so, and Allah knows best, because lowering can be seen with the eyes. They therefore thought that the follower did not—