early Muslims did not pronounce the takbīr when lowering or raising themselves. This was taken as evidence that it is not obligatory, since they would not allow the Muslim community to persist in abandoning an obligation. It was even narrated from Ibn ʿUmar that “when praying alone, he would pronounce the takbīr in obligatory prayers, but not in voluntary prayers.”

Abū ʿUmar said: “Ahmad would only report from Ibn ʿUmar what he considered authentic, Allah willing.”

He continued: “As for Mālik’s report from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, that ‘he would pronounce the takbīr in prayer whenever he lowered or raised himself,’ its apparent meaning indicates that he did this whether leading the prayer or not.”

I say: There is no doubt about what Mālik narrated. What Ahmad mentioned does not contradict it; rather, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr misunderstood Ahmad’s words. Ahmad was speaking only about the takbīr after prayer during the days of Eid al-Adhā, not the takbīr within the prayer. This is why Ahmad distinguished between obligatory and voluntary prayers, saying: “I prefer that one pronounce the takbīr after obligatory prayers, but not after voluntary prayers.”

Neither Ahmad nor anyone else distinguished between obligatory and voluntary prayers regarding the takbīr within the prayer. Rather, the apparent position of his school is that the takbīr within voluntary prayers is obligatory, just as it is within obligatory prayers. If it is held to be Sunnah in obligatory prayers, then it is likewise held to be Sunnah in voluntary prayers. As for distinguishing between the two, that is neither his position nor anyone else’s.

As for what he reported from Ibn ʿUmar concerning his pronouncing the takbīr after prayer when praying alone: