It has been narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that he would say:

“Allāhu akbar” three times, and at the fourth he would add:

“and to Allah belongs all praise.”

A number of scholars, however, maintained that no specific wording is fixed in this regard.

The cause of their disagreement is the absence of any explicit specification in the Sacred Law, coupled with their general understanding that some delimitation was intended—an understanding shared by most of them. For this reason they differed over determining the precise period for the takbīr: they inferred a time limit even though no definitive text exists.

They are unanimously agreed that on ʿĪd al-Fiṭr it is recommended to break the fast before setting out for the prayer-ground, whereas on the Day of al-Aḍḥā one should not eat until after returning from the prayer. It is likewise recommended to return by a route different from the one taken on the way out, for this is established from the Prophet’s practice, peace and blessings be upon him.

Chapter Nine
On the Prostrations of the Qur’an

The discussion in this chapter is confined to five sections: the ruling of the prostration; the number of prostration-verses that are binding—that is, those for which one prostrates; the times at which it is done; upon whom it is incumbent; and the manner of performing it.

As for the ruling of the prostration of recitation (sujūd al-tilāwah), Abū Ḥanīfah and his companions held that it is obligatory, whereas Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī considered it a Sunnah and not obligatory.

The root of the disagreement lies in their divergent understandings of the Qur’anic and prophetic commands to prostrate, and of reports whose purport amounts to such commands—such as the Almighty’s words:

“When the verses of the Most Merciful are recited to them, they fall down in prostration and weeping.” (Q 19:58)

Are such texts to be taken as imposing an obligation or merely a recommendation?

Abū Ḥanīfah understood them according to their apparent sense of obligation, whereas Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī followed the understanding of the Companions, for they were the most qualified to grasp the intent of the Sharīʿah’s commands. It is established that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb once recited a verse of prostration on a Friday, descended and prostrated, and the people prostrated with him. The following Friday he recited it again; when the people prepared to prostrate he said, “Stay where you are—Allah has not made it binding upon us except if we wish.” This took place in the presence of the Companions, and no dissent from any of them has been recorded. Since they were the most knowledgeable of the Law’s intent, those who regard an unopposed statement of a Companion as proof cite this incident as evidence.