among the scholars that this is not the Sunnah. Rather, they agree on what has been established among them through mass transmission from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: that neither the muezzin nor the other worshippers following the imam regularly pronounce the takbīrs aloud.

Bilāl likewise did not pronounce them aloud behind the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. However, when this is needed because the imam’s voice is weak or because of the distance, they have argued that it is permissible on the grounds that “Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, would make the takbīrs audible to the people behind the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, during his illness.” Indeed, the jurists have even disagreed over whether a worshipper’s pronouncing them aloud behind the imam without any need invalidates his prayer.

A similar example is the report recorded in the two Sahīhs and the Sunan collections from Mutarrif ibn Abd Allāh ibn al-Shikhkhīr, who said:

“Imrān ibn Husayn and I prayed behind Alī ibn Abī Tālib. Whenever he prostrated, he pronounced the takbīr; whenever he raised his head, he pronounced the takbīr; and whenever he rose after the two rakʿahs, he pronounced the takbīr. When he had completed the prayer, Imrān ibn Husayn took my hand and said, ‘This man has reminded me of the prayer of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace’—or he said, ‘He has led us in prayer as Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed.’”

Thus, when he pronounced the takbīrs aloud, Imrān and Mutarrif heard him, just as others did.

Another similar example is the report also recorded in the two Sahīhs and the Sunan collections from Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him:

“He used to pronounce the takbīrs in every prayer, whether obligatory or otherwise: he would pronounce the takbīr