and the general scope of the command to listen silently. The former say: “He should listen silently except while reciting al-Fātihah.” The latter say that anyone commanded to listen silently is exempted from his statement:

“No prayer is valid without reciting the Mother of the Quran.”

This is if they concede that its wording includes him in the first place, for they maintain that the hadith does not establish that recitation is obligatory for someone praying behind an imam. He only said:

“No prayer is valid for one who does not recite the Mother of the Quran.”

The Book, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus establish that a follower’s silent attention to his imam’s recitation fulfils the purpose of reciting along with him, and more. They all agree that, during the recitation beyond al-Fātihah, listening is preferable for him to reciting himself. If the follower listening to his imam’s recitation were not better than one reciting himself, then reciting would be better for him. Furthermore, the command to listen silently to the recitation of the Quran is established, and one cannot both listen silently and recite. Were silent listening not to fulfil the purpose of recitation and more, Allah would not have commanded abandoning what is better for the sake of what is less meritorious.

Moreover, this is a general statement from whose scope the latecomer has been excepted on the basis of the hadith of Abū Bakrah and other evidence. Prayer led by two successive imams has also been excepted. When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) led the people in prayer after Abū Bakr had already led part of it, he continued reciting from where Abū Bakr had stopped. He did not begin reciting al-Fātihah anew, because he continued the prayer begun by Abū Bakr. If the obligation to recite al-Fātihah was waived for him in this situation, then it is all the more fitting that it should be waived for someone praying behind an imam.

Cases involving an excuse have also been excepted, and listening to the imam is a circumstance constituting an excuse. Thus, this general statement has been qualified by exceptions. Yet no exception has been made to the command that the follower listen silently to the imam’s recitation, whether by a text