Kufa who were renowned, and he belonged to Abd Allah’s household. It is also said that he received this report from the scholars of his own household. The jurists therefore relied on this hadith concerning the utterances of glorification because of its supporting narrations. They went so far as to say that three constitute either the minimum for completeness or the minimum for bowing, which indicates that the upper limit is greater than this.

The view of those jurists who say—on the basis of a principle associated with al-Shāfiī, Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on them), and others—that the Sunnah for the imam is to limit himself to three utterances of glorification is akin to the view of those who say that the Sunnah is not to prolong the standing posture after bowing, to delay the prayer until the end of its prescribed time, or something similar. Those who made such statements have no basis whatsoever in the Sunnah to which they can refer. Rather, the widely transmitted hadiths from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), reliably recorded in the Sahīh collections, Sunan works, Musnad compilations, and elsewhere, demonstrate that in most of his prayers he uttered more glorifications than this, as the hadiths cited above have already shown.

They said this, however, after hearing that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “When one of you leads the people in prayer, let him make it light; but when he prays by himself, let him prolong it as much as he wishes.” They neither knew the proper extent of [prolongation] nor understood the kind of prolongation he prohibited when he said to Muādh, “Are you putting people to trial, O Muādh?” Thus, on the basis of their own opinion, they made this the measure of what is recommended.

It is well known that the prescribed extent of the prayer—both its obligatory and recommended elements—can be determined only by the Sunnah. This is a matter of knowledge that Allah and His Messenger did not entrust to the opinions of His servants. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led the Muslims in the five daily prayers, as did his Rightly Guided Caliphs, whom we have been commanded to follow. It is therefore necessary to investigate what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) established as Sunnah, and no ruling based on personal opinion should be introduced into this matter. Personal judgment is exercised only regarding matters for which no Sunnah has been established from