the takbīr silently, it is impermissible to claim that he omitted it when his performance of it could not be detected. None of the leading scholars ever said this, nor did anyone say that they omitted it whenever lowering or raising themselves. Rather, they said, “They did not complete it.” The meaning of “they did not complete it” is “[they would make it deficient].” Its deficiency consists in not pronouncing it while lowering oneself, as stated earlier in his words. This may mean a deficiency caused by failing to raise the voice when pronouncing it, or a deficiency caused by omitting it in some positions.

Ibn Abd al-Barr narrated from Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Abū Bakr, Umar, and Uthmān (may Allah be pleased with them all), and every one of them would pronounce the takbīr whenever he raised his head and whenever he lowered himself.” He said: This conflicts with the report that Umar did not complete the takbīr.

It was narrated from Saīd ibn Abd al-Azīz, from al-Zuhrī, who said: “I said to Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz, ‘What has kept you from completing the takbīr when this governor of yours, [Abd al-Azīz], completes it?’ He replied, ‘That was the prayer of the earliest generations,’ and refused to accept this from me.”

I say: It was only the audible pronouncement of the takbīr that remained unknown to Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz and these others, just as it has remained unknown to groups of people in our own time. Earlier than this is the report cited by Ibn Abī Shayba: Jarīr informed us, from Mansūr, from Ibrāhīm, who said: “The first person to pronounce the takbīr incompletely was Ziyād.”

I say: Ziyād was a governor during Umar’s time, so it is possible that this was