And anyone who says that repeating the testimonies in this manner is obligatory and indispensable, or that it is disliked and prohibited, is mistaken in either case. Likewise, anyone who says that reciting the phrases of the iqāmah singly is disliked, or that doubling them is disliked, is mistaken. Preferring one form over another, however, is a matter of scholarly judgment, like preferring certain Quranic readings or forms of the tashahhud over others.

The various forms of the “prayer in times of fear” performed by the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) also belong to this category, as do the various ways of “seeking rain.” On one occasion, he sought rain in his mosque without performing the prayer for rain; on another, he went out into the open country and led them in two units of prayer. They would also seek rain through supplication without prayer, as his successors did. All of this is good and permissible.

Another example is fasting or breaking the fast while travelling during Ramadan. The four imams agreed that both are permissible. A group of earlier and later scholars, however, held that only breaking the fast is permissible, and that if a traveller fasted, this would not discharge his obligation. They claimed that permission to fast while travelling had been abrogated by his saying:

“It is not righteousness to fast while travelling.”

The correct position is that held by the imams. Nothing in this hadith contradicts his permission for them to fast while travelling, for he denied that it was an act of righteousness, but did not deny that