He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

“Is the opening supplication in prayer obligatory or recommended? What do the scholars say about this?”

He replied:

The opening supplication after the takbīr (declaration of Allah’s greatness) is a Sunnah according to the majority of imams, including Abū Hanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad. This is established in authentic hadiths, such as the hadith of Abū Hurayrah recorded in both Sahīh collections. He said:

“I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, during your silence between the takbīr and the recitation, what do you say?’ He replied, ‘I say: “O Allah, put distance between me…”’”

He then related the supplication. This makes clear that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would pause between the takbīr and the recitation to supplicate.

Various forms of this opening supplication have been reported, most of them concerning night prayer. Whoever begins with the following has done well:

“Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. Blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You.”

It is established in Sahīh Muslim that ʿUmar would recite this aloud in the obligatory prayer. It has also been reported in the Sunan collections in narrations traced back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.