The reply is: This is not so. Rather, Abū Hātim al-Rāzī said of him: “His hadiths are sound; his narrations are accepted.” It is also reported that Abū Hātim al-Bustī said: “Al-Zuhrī, Saʿīd ibn Abī Hilāl, his brother ʿUmar, and Sālim ibn ʿAmmār ibn Ukaymah ibn ʿUmar narrated from him.”] (*).

Mālik narrated in his Muwattaʾ, from Wahb ibn Kaysān, that he heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh say:

“Whoever performs a rakʿah without reciting in it has not prayed, unless he is praying behind the imam.”

He also narrated from Nāfiʿ that whenever ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar was asked, “Should one recite behind the imam?” he would say:

“When one of you prays behind the imam, the imam’s recitation suffices for him; when he prays alone, he should recite.”

Nāfiʿ said: “ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar did not recite behind the imam.”

Muslim narrated in his Sahīh, from ʿAtāʾ ibn Yasār, that he asked Zayd ibn Thābit about reciting along with the imam. He replied: “There is to be no recitation along with the imam in any part of the prayer.”

Al-Bayhaqī narrated from Abū Wāʾil that a man asked Ibn Masʿūd about reciting behind the imam. He replied:

“Listen attentively to the Quran, for prayer demands your full attention, and the imam will suffice you in that.”

Ibn Masʿūd and Zayd ibn Thābit were the two Companion jurists of Medina and Kufa. Their statements indicate that attentive listening to the imam’s recitation is what precludes one’s own recitation.