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Since the person praying behind the imam is commanded to listen attentively and remain silent during the imam’s recitation, he should not occupy himself with anything else—whether recitation, remembrance of Allah, or supplication. Thus, while the imam is reciting aloud, he should neither say the opening supplication nor seek refuge with Allah. There is disagreement on this issue, with three views transmitted from Ahmad.

One view is that, while the imam is reciting aloud, he should say the opening supplication and seek refuge with Allah, but should not recite. This is because listening fulfils the purpose of recitation for him, unlike the opening supplication and the invocation for refuge, neither of which he hears.

Another view is that he should say the opening supplication but not seek refuge with Allah, because the opening supplication is linked to the opening takbīr, whereas seeking refuge is linked to recitation. Whoever does not recite, therefore, does not seek refuge.

A third view is that he should neither say the opening supplication nor seek refuge with Allah while the imam is reciting aloud. This is the soundest view, because doing so distracts him from the attentive listening and silence he has been commanded to observe. He may not allow anything to distract him from what he has been commanded to do.

Ahmad’s followers then differed: some held that this disagreement concerns only the imam’s pauses—whether one should occupy oneself with the opening supplication or seeking refuge, or with one of the two