The reason for their disagreement lies in the divergent reports on the matter, both in what they imply and in their actual wording. The purport of the sound ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās is that the Prophet recited silently, for it says of him—peace and blessings be upon him—“he stood for a period roughly equal to Sūrat al-Baqarah.” This meaning is explicitly confirmed in another narration from him: “I stood next to the Messenger of God—peace and blessings be upon him—but did not hear a single letter.” A similar report comes through Ibn Isḥāq from ʿĀʾishah regarding the eclipse prayer, in which she said, “I tried to determine what he was reciting and concluded that it was Sūrat al-Baqarah.”
Those who favor these ḥadīths therefore maintain that the recitation in the eclipse prayer is silent. On the strength of these same reports, Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī recommended that one recite in the first standing Sūrat al-Baqarah, in the second Āl ʿImrān, in the third the equivalent of one hundred and fifty verses of al-Baqarah, and in the fourth the equivalent of fifty verses of al-Baqarah, beginning each unit with al-Fātiḥah. They further supported their view with the report in which he—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “Daytime prayer is inaudible.”
Opposing ḥadīths also exist. One states that “he—peace and blessings be upon him—recited Sūrat al-Najm in one of the two rakʿahs of the eclipse prayer,” which implies that he recited aloud. Aḥmad and Isḥāq cited in favor of this position the report of Sufyān ibn al-Ḥasan, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah: “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—recited aloud in the solar-eclipse prayer.”
Abū ʿUmar commented, “Sufyān ibn al-Ḥasan is not strong,” and added, “He does, however, have a corroborator in transmitting this from al-Zuhrī …”