that “they both used to pronounce the takbīr whenever they lowered or raised themselves in prayer, and Jābir used to teach them this.”

He said: Mālik cited all these reports to show you that the takbīr is among the Sunnah practices of prayer.

I say: What Mālik mentioned is indeed as he stated. As for the disagreement mentioned by Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, I have not found him cite any basis for it other than what Ahmad reported from the Muslim scholars: that the takbīr is prescribed in the prayers. Mālik and others mentioned this—and Allah knows best—only because of the objectionable conduct of imams who did not fully observe the practice of takbīr.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said:

Ibn Wahb narrated: “ʿIyād ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Fihrī informed me that ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar used to say: ‘Everything has an adornment, and the adornment of prayer is the takbīr and raising the hands during it.’”

If Ibn ʿUmar said this, how could anyone suppose that he did not pronounce the takbīr when praying alone? No reasonable person would think this of Ibn ʿUmar.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said:

It has been narrated from ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, Qatāda, and others that “they did not fully observe the practice of takbīr.” Al-Qāsim, Sālim, and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr also related this from him.

It was narrated through Abū Salama, from Abū Hurayra, that “he used to pronounce these takbīrs, saying: ‘This is indeed the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.’”

He said: This indicates that people had abandoned pronouncing the takbīr whenever lowering or raising themselves. And the people’s abandonment