or for similar reasons, then offering it is also commendable. Thus, the same act may sometimes be recommended and at other times be better omitted, depending on which course offers the greater benefit according to the evidence of Islamic law.

A Muslim may refrain from a recommended act if performing it would cause harm outweighing its benefit. Thus, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) refrained from rebuilding the House upon Abraham’s foundations. He said to ‘Ā’ishah:

“Were it not that your people have only recently left the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, I would have demolished the Ka‘bah, brought it down to ground level, and given it two doors: one through which people would enter and another through which they would leave.”

This hadith is recorded in the two Sahīh collections. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) therefore refrained from what he considered the better of the two courses because of an overriding consideration: Quraysh had only recently embraced Islam, and doing this would have alienated them. The harm therefore outweighed the benefit.

For this reason, leading scholars, including Ahmad, recommended that an imam forgo what he considers preferable when doing so would foster harmony among those praying behind him. For example, he may consider it preferable to separate the witr prayer by concluding the even-numbered units with the closing salutation and then offering the single unit of witr, while leading people who accept only an uninterrupted witr prayer. If he cannot bring them to adopt the preferable practice, the benefit of accommodating them by offering witr without a break outweighs the benefit of separating it while they dislike praying behind him. Likewise, if he considers it preferable to recite the basmalah (“In the name of Allah”) quietly or aloud, while those praying behind him hold the opposite view