They may further contend that the Prophet’s statement—peace and blessings be upon him—
“Then recite whatever is easy for you from the Qur’an”
is indeterminate, whereas the other ḥadīths are determinate, and what is determinate overrides what is indeterminate. Yet this line of argument is problematic, for the particle “mā” here simply means “whatever,” that is, “any portion that is easy.” Such an interpretation is only tenable if, in Arabic usage, “mā” can sometimes carry the force of the definite article of specification. Under that reading, the wording would amount to: “Recite the specific portion that is easy for you from the Qur’an,” the portion understood being the Mother of the Book, provided that the definite article in “alladhī” signals a known referent. This requires investigation of Arabic speech: if you find that the Arabs occasionally employ “mā” in this figurative sense to indicate something specific, the interpretation is acceptable; otherwise, it has no basis. As you see, the question remains open to more than one possibility, and it would only be settled conclusively were abrogation clearly ruled out.

As for the disagreement among those who deem the Mother of the Book obligatory in prayer—whether in every rakʿah or only in some parts of the prayer—it stems from the ambiguity of the pronoun in the Prophet’s words—peace and blessings be upon him—“in which he has not recited the Mother of the Book.” The pronoun may refer to the whole prayer or to part of it. Hence, a person who recites it throughout the prayer, or in just a portion of it—namely in one or two rakʿahs—would not fall under the statement “in which he has not recited it.” This very possibility led Abū Ḥanīfah to omit the recitation in part of the prayer as well, that is, in the final two rakʿahs.

Mālik chose that, in a four-rakʿah prayer, one recite al-Ḥamd and another sūrah in the first two rakʿahs and al-Ḥamd alone in the last two. Al-Shāfiʿī, by contrast, held that al-Ḥamd and another sūrah should be recited in all four rakʿahs of ẓuhr, with the sūrah in the first two being longer. Mālik relied on the sound ḥadīth of Abū Qatādah stating that “the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—used to recite in the first two rakʿahs of ẓuhr and ʿaṣr the Opening of the Book and a sūrah, and in the last two rakʿahs the Opening of the Book alone.” Al-Shāfiʿī, however, adhered to the apparent meaning of the sound report of Abū Saʿīd that the Prophet used to recite in the first two rakʿahs of ẓuhr roughly thirty verses and in the last two about fifteen. They did not differ regarding ʿaṣr, for the two reports concur on that prayer: Abū Saʿīd’s narration likewise states that “he used to recite in the first two rakʿahs of ʿaṣr roughly fifteen verses and in the last two about half of that.”

Issue Six: The majority agree that it is forbidden to recite the Qur’an while bowing and prostrating, based on the ḥadīth of ʿAlī who said, “Gabriel—peace be upon him—forbade me to recite the Qur’an while bowing or prostrating.”