the pulpit; once he sat upon it, they would discontinue their voluntary worship. Others would perform two rakʿahs and then sit quietly until the Friday prayer, never instituting any bowing after the first adhan or at any other time. Thus the one engaged in voluntary prayer did not censure the one who remained seated, nor did the one who remained seated censure the worshipper in voluntary prayer.

This is the very opposite of what people do today: they remain seated, and when the muʿadhdhin gives the adhan they rise to bow.1

Should someone object, “This is a time in which prayer is permissible, for al-Bukhari narrated from ʿAbd Allah ibn Mughaffal—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Between every two calls to prayer there is a prayer,’”–he repeated it three times and on the third added, “for whoever wishes”–the reply is that the early predecessors, may Allah be pleased with them, had deeper insight into the circumstances and a better grasp of the wording; we have no option but to follow them in what they actually practiced.

I say: This answer is neither adequate nor convincing, for it creates the false impression that the ḥadith proves the legitimacy of deliberately praying between ʿUthmān’s adhan and the Prophetic adhan, whereas that is not the case.