The Prophet thus stated that such reminders and whisperings come from Satan, and that Satan causes the worshipper to forget until he no longer knows how many units of prayer he has performed. He instructed him to perform the two prostrations for forgetfulness and did not deem him sinful on that account. Mild whispering does not invalidate the prayer, by scholarly consensus. If, however, it predominates, one opinion holds that the prayer must be repeated. This was the position chosen by Abū Abd Allah ibn Hāmid. The correct position, held by the majority and explicitly stated by Ahmad and others, is that he is not required to repeat it. The hadith of Abū Hurayrah applies generally and without qualification to every instance of whispering, and he did not command (1) that the prayer be repeated. His reward is, however, diminished in proportion to the distraction.

Ibn Abbās said, “Only that portion of your prayer of which you were conscious counts for you.”

It is related in the Sunan that Ammār ibn Yāsir once performed a prayer and made it brief. When this was mentioned to him, he asked, “Did I omit anything from it?”

They replied, “No.”

He said, “I forestalled the whispering. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“A man may finish his prayer with only one-tenth of it recorded for him, or one-ninth, or one-eighth”—continuing until he said—“or one-half of it.”” (2).

This hadith is evidence against Ibn Hāmid: the least loss it mentions is half the prayer, while it also states that as little as one-tenth may be recorded for a person.

The performance of an obligatory duty serves two purposes. The first is to discharge one’s obligation, thereby averting the blame and punishment deserved for omitting it. Once this has been achieved, repetition is not required, because its only remaining purpose would be the attainment of reward alone, and that is characteristic of