the opening supplication on more than one occasion, and just as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would sometimes recite a verse aloud during the noon and afternoon prayers. Thus, silent recitation has also been reported from most of the Companions who are reported to have recited it aloud. It would seem that they recited it aloud to make clear that they were reciting it, just as some of them also recited the supplication seeking refuge in Allah aloud.
Moderation in every matter consists in giving the transmitted reports their proper application. It is categorically impossible that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, always recited it aloud when most of the Companions neither reported nor practised this. Indeed, more than one Companion is reliably reported to have denied that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did so. No established report contradicts this without admitting of more than one interpretation.
To hold that reciting it aloud is never prescribed—despite its being reliably reported from more than one Companion—is to attribute to the Companions both doing and approving of something disliked. Moreover, reciting aloud during a silent prayer is prescribed for an incidental reason, as explained above.
Likewise, regarding its recitation as disliked is open to serious objection, given the established reports from the Companions concerning its recitation, some of which are traced back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; the fact that the Companions included it in the written Quran; and the fact that it would be revealed along with the surah. Furthermore, if it is recited at the beginning of Solomon’s letter, then reciting it at the beginning of Allah’s Book is entirely fitting. Following the transmitted reports in this matter therefore brings moderation, harmony, and the middle course, which is the best course of all.
As for the length of the prayer, the jurists of the hadith tradition prefer the prayer of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace