most of his responses. He accepted this report and derived legal rulings from it; he neither ceased to act upon it nor declared it abrogated.

It is established that the narrator best known for reporting this incident, who stated that he offered that prayer with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was Abū Hurayrah. He mentioned in his account that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, led them in the prayer. He had only embraced Islam, seen the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and prayed behind him from the year of Khaybar onward. The incident took place in the Prophet’s mosque, certainly after his return from Khaybar. This was unquestionably after speaking during prayer had been prohibited, for it is established in the two Sahīh collections that Ibn Masʿūd said:

“We used to greet the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was praying, and he would return our greetings. When we returned from our stay with the Negus, I greeted him, but he did not return my greeting. We said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we used to greet you during prayer, and you would return our greetings.’ He replied, ‘Prayer demands one’s full attention.’”

This shows that speaking during prayer had been prohibited by the time they returned from their stay with the Negus. There is no disagreement that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd fought at Badr alongside the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He was also the one who finished off Abū Jahl ibn Hishām. It follows that speaking during prayer was prohibited before Badr, whether Ibn Masʿūd returned from Abyssinia to Mecca and then emigrated, or came from Abyssinia to Medina after the Prophet’s emigration, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This point has been disputed.

Ibn Ishāq mentioned the first view in his account of the Prophet’s life. On that view, speaking during prayer would have been prohibited in Mecca. This is subject to a qualification, as in