a group of later scholars of the schools of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad followed this argument through consistently and permitted a man to perform voluntary prayers lying down without a valid excuse, on the strength of this hadith and because it cannot be understood as referring to a sick person, as explained above. Most scholars, however, rejected this and considered it an innovation and a novelty introduced into Islam.

They said:

No one in Islam is known ever to have prayed lying on his side while healthy. Had this been prescribed, Muslims would have done it during their Prophet’s lifetime, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or afterwards. The Prophet himself, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would have done it at least once to demonstrate its permissibility. He used to perform voluntary prayers sitting and pray on his mount in whichever direction it was heading, and he would perform the witr prayer on it, though he did not perform obligatory prayers on it. Had this been permissible, he would have done it at least once, or his Companions would have done so.

Despite the strength of their argument, those among these scholars who rejected this practice but did not regard congregational prayer as obligatory contradicted themselves. They understood his saying:

“Prayer in congregation is twenty-five degrees superior to a man’s prayer alone”

to refer to someone without a valid excuse. They may therefore be asked: Why does the superiority mentioned here concern someone without a valid excuse, while the superiority mentioned there concerns someone with a valid excuse? Is this not a contradiction?

As for those who regarded congregational prayer as obligatory and understood the stated superiority to concern someone with a valid excuse, they applied their argument consistently. In that case, the hadith provides no evidence for the validity of praying alone without a valid excuse.