grades of authenticity recognized by hadith specialists, for Qatādah had the strongest memory of anyone in his time, or was among those who did. Likewise, Shuʿbah’s precision and accuracy were unsurpassed in their estimation. This refutes the claim that some narrators transmitted Anas’s hadith according to their own understanding of its meaning, and that his actual wording was merely:
“They would begin the prayer with ‘Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’”
According to this claim, some narrators understood this to mean that they did not recite the basmalah, and then introduced that meaning into their narration themselves. Such a claim could only come from someone utterly ignorant of the hadith narrators, of the explicit wording of their reports—which admits of no alternative interpretation—and of their utmost integrity and accuracy, which leave no room for such careless reporting. Otherwise, he is someone who stubbornly denies the truth, follows his own desires, and abandons what knowledge and evidence require.
It may then be said: Suppose that Muʿtamir learned his manner of prayer from his father, his father from Anas, and Anas from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This is still a general statement open to more than one interpretation. Not every particular ruling concerning prayer can be established through such a broadly stated chain of transmission. It is well known that, over a long period and through multiple links in transmission, the particulars of numerous separate actions cannot be preserved with complete accuracy except through a detailed report, rather than a general one.
After all, it is well known that Mansūr ibn al-Muʿtamir, Hammād ibn Abī Sulaymān, al-Aʿmash and others learned their manner of prayer from Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī and his peers. Ibrāhīm learned it from ʿAlqamah, al-Aswad and others like them; they learned it from Ibn Masʿūd; and Ibn Masʿūd learned it from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The transmitters in this chain are more eminent than those in