He greeted the Prophet, who again ordered him to return; this happened three times. The man then declared, “By Him who has sent you with the truth, I do not know how to do it any better.” The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said,

“When you rise for prayer, perfect your ablution, then face the qiblah and pronounce the opening takbīr. After that, recite whatever is easy for you from the Qur’an. Bow until you are at ease in bowing, then rise until you stand straight. Prostrate until you are at ease in prostration, then rise until you are seated calmly. Prostrate again until you are at ease, then rise until you stand upright. Do this throughout your entire prayer.”

Opposed to this are two rigorously authenticated ḥadīths, agreed upon by al-Bukhārī and Muslim. The first is the report of ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit, in which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book.”

The second is another report from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“Whoever performs a prayer in which he does not recite the Mother of the Qur’an, that prayer is defective, defective, defective,”—he repeated it three times.

The outward sense of the earlier ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah implies that in the prayer any portion of the Qur’an that comes easily will suffice, whereas the reports of ʿUbādah and of Abū Hurayrah just quoted make the recitation of the Mother of the Qur’an a condition for validity. The plain meaning of the Almighty’s words, “So recite whatever is easy for you of it” (al-Muzzammil 20), supports the first report of Abū Hurayrah.

Those who differ on this issue adopt one of two interpretive approaches: either they reconcile the narrations, or they give precedence to some over others. On either approach the following argument can be made. Whoever obligates the recitation of whatever is easy from the Qur’an may claim his position is stronger, because the explicit wording of the Qur’an supports it; and he may, by way of reconciliation, maintain that the purpose of ʿUbādah’s ḥadīth is to deny completeness, not validity, while the second ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah merely states what fulfils the minimum requirement of recitation when the intent is to teach the obligatory elements of prayer.

Conversely, the other side may employ either method, contending that these latter ḥadīths are clearer because they are more numerous; moreover, they are reinforced by the well-known ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah in which Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves: half of it is for Me and half for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks. When the servant says, ‘All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds,’ Allah says, ‘My servant has praised Me’…”—and the ḥadīth continues.