Ibn Masʿūd’s report—transmitted through the narration of Zayd ibn Arqam—states:
“We used to speak during the prayer until the verse
‘And stand before Allah in devout obedience’ (Q 2:238)
was revealed; thereafter we were commanded to remain silent and forbidden to speak.”
There is also the ḥadith of Muʿāwiyah ibn al-Ḥakam al-Sulamī: “I heard the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—say:
‘Nothing of ordinary human speech is appropriate in our prayer; it consists only of glorification (tasbīḥ), the proclamation of Divine oneness (tahlīl), praise (taḥmīd), and the recitation of the Qur’an.’”
The jurists nevertheless disagreed on two situations: first, when one speaks out of forgetfulness, and second, when one speaks deliberately in order to rectify the prayer.
Al-Awzāʿī advanced an isolated opinion, saying: “If someone speaks during the prayer to save a life or address a grave matter, he resumes his prayer.” The well-known Mālikī view is that intentional speech aimed at correcting the prayer does not invalidate it. Al-Shāfiʿī held that any speech whatsoever nullifies the prayer—except when it occurs through forgetfulness—whereas Abū Ḥanīfah ruled that any speech, whatever the motive, breaks the prayer.
Their divergence arises from the apparently conflicting hadiths. The earlier reports demand a blanket prohibition of speech, yet the famous ḥadith of Abū Hurayrah relates that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—ended his prayer after two rakʿahs. Dhu’l-Yadayn said: “Messenger of Allah, has the prayer been shortened, or did you forget?” The Prophet replied, “Is Dhu’l-Yadayn speaking the truth?” They answered, “Yes.” He then stood, performed two further rakʿahs, and concluded with the salām.
On the face of it, the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and the Companions spoke, then resumed and completed the prayer; their speech did not invalidate it. Whoever adopts this plain meaning and limits the permission to speech that corrects the prayer treats it as an exception to the general prohibition; this is the position of Mālik ibn Anas. Conversely, whoever argues that the report offers no proof of deliberate speech—that the Companions spoke only because they thought the prayer had been shortened, and that the Prophet spoke believing he had completed the prayer, and further that no one spoke after he declared, “The prayer was neither shortened nor did I forget”—concludes that the ḥadith permits only unintentional speech.
Hence, the disagreement between Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī over what is to be exempted from the general ban ultimately rests on their divergence over