that, and this is the correct view. Ahmad’s followers hold two views on the matter. This is an innovation that neither the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, nor his Companions practised. Rather, he would begin the prayer with the takbīr (proclamation of Allah’s greatness), without uttering any of these expressions beforehand. Likewise, when teaching his Companions, he taught them only to begin with the takbīr. Thus, this is an innovation in religious practice and also reflects a misunderstanding of intention itself. The intention to perform an action necessarily arises within the mind, so stating it aloud is pointless—like someone eating announcing his intention to eat, someone drinking announcing his intention to drink, someone marrying announcing his intention to marry, or a traveller announcing his intention to travel, and so forth.

Another example concerns “the forms of acts of worship.” Mālik and the people of Medina do not permit altering the prescribed form of an act of worship. Thus, prayer may not begin with anything other than the prescribed takbīr, namely, “Allah is the Greatest.” This same takbīr is prescribed for the call to prayer and the Eid festivals. They do not permit reciting the Quran in a language other than Arabic, nor do they permit replacing the specifically prescribed item due as zakat with other property of equivalent value chosen by its owner.

Regarding prayer times, they follow the Sunnah more closely than the people of Kufa: they recommend offering the dawn and afternoon prayers early. They hold that the time for the afternoon prayer begins when the shadow of an object equals its height, which marks the end of the time for the noon prayer. They regard the times of the night and sunset prayers as shared for someone with a valid excuse, such as a menstruating woman whose period has ended or an insane person who has regained his sanity.