“I wish that the mouth of whoever recites behind the imam were filled with red-hot stones, straw, or dust,” applies to someone who recites while hearing the imam recite, thereby neglecting the command to remain silent and listen. This is also the person to whom Sa‘d’s statement—if he did say it—applies:

“I wish there were glowing coals in his mouth.”

This is especially so if he competes with the imam’s recitation, such that the imam, or someone listening to the imam’s recitation, can hear his voice. He would then be among those concerning whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Why is someone competing with me in reciting the Quran?”

And concerning whom he said:

“I knew that some of you were competing with me in its recitation.”

Likewise, if someone recites during a prayer with quiet recitation but raises his voice so that he interferes with and competes with the imam, or with others praying behind him, he would be acting wrongly.

As for the statement of Hammād ibn Salama and others:

“I wish his mouth were filled with sugar,”

this concerns someone who recites where recitation is recommended for him, on account of his reciting behind the imam in a prayer with quiet recitation.

Likewise, the statement reported from Zayd ibn Thābit:

“There is no prayer for one who recites behind the imam,”

applies to someone who neglects what he has been commanded to do and does what he has been forbidden to do, reciting while hearing the imam’s recitation. There are two views within Ahmad’s school concerning whether such a person’s prayer is invalid. Any Companion or Successor among the early generations who said this may have intended a sound meaning, as in the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him:

“For one of you to sit on a glowing coal that reaches his skin and burns his clothes is better for him than sitting on a grave.”

For a person to suffer punishment in this world is less severe for him than committing