their doubt. Thus, when a person exercises his judgment to determine what is most likely correct, he dispels his doubt. In this respect, there is no difference between someone leading the prayer and someone praying alone. If, after exercising his judgment, he concludes that he has prayed four units, then praying a fifth would mean that, in his own estimation, he has prayed five units, which he was not commanded to do. This differs from the case in which both possibilities are equally likely: uncertainty about having prayed too many or too few units is then unavoidable, and uncertainty about having prayed too many is preferable. Any extra unit prayed in a state of doubt is like one added inadvertently, and that does not invalidate his prayer. By contrast, if he is uncertain whether he has prayed too few, he is uncertain whether he has performed what he was commanded to do, so his obligation remains undischarged.

Furthermore, the possible positions on this matter are as follows:

One may say that a person must always disregard his doubt without exercising his judgment, or interpret exercising judgment as disregarding doubt. This plainly contradicts the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ūd. Alternatively, one may apply one hadith to someone leading the prayer and the other to someone praying alone. Yet both hadiths clearly address those performing prayer: the Prophet did not address prayer leaders in one and those praying alone in the other. Nor does the wording of either hadith indicate such a distinction. To claim that this is what the Messenger intended, without anything in his words indicating it, is to attribute concealment and obfuscation to him, whereas he is above such things. Moreover, when both possibilities are equally likely, the hadith of Abū Sa‘īd applies to everyone