recited to themselves, his recitation would be disrupted. Thus, the balanced position on this issue has become clear through textual evidence and analogy. And Allah knows best.

The reports transmitted from the Companions on this subject clarify the correct view. ʿAtāʾ ibn Yasār asked Zayd ibn Thābit about reciting along with the imam. He replied:

“There is to be no recitation alongside the imam at all.”

Narrated by Muslim. It is well known that Zayd ibn Thābit was among the Companions most knowledgeable about the Sunnah, and he was the leading scholar of the people of Medina. Had reciting al-Fātihah or anything else while the imam recites aloud been prescribed, he would not have said, “There is to be no recitation alongside the imam at all.”

His phrase “alongside the imam” applies only to someone reciting along with him while he recites aloud. When recitation is quiet, neither is reciting along with the other. This statement of Zayd rules out both obligation and recommendation, and expresses a prohibition and disapproval.

Wahb ibn Kaysān reported that he heard Jābir ibn Abd Allah say:

“Whoever prays a rakʿah without reciting the Mother of the Quran in it has not prayed—unless he is praying behind the imam.”

Narrated by Mālik in al-Muwattaʾ.

Jābir was the last of the Companions to die in Medina and was one of the eminent figures of that generation. Mālik also narrated from Nāfiʿ that whenever Abd Allah ibn Umar was asked, “Should one recite behind the imam?” he would say:

“When any of you prays