Third: The first ḥadith contains a manifest miracle of the Prophet ﷺ—his seeing what was behind him. It must be understood, however, that this ability was confined to the state of prayer; nothing in the Sunnah indicates that he saw in this manner outside the prayer. Allah knows best.

Fourth: The two ḥadiths clearly establish a point unknown to many people—though now well-known in psychology—namely, that a defect in one’s outward conduct corrupts the inward state, and vice-versa. There are many aḥadith on this theme; God willing, we may someday gather and document them on another occasion.

Fifth: For the imām to begin the opening takbīr as soon as the mu’adhdhin says, “qad qāmat­iṣ-ṣalāh” (“the prayer has begun”) is an innovation, for it contradicts the sound Sunnah, as these two ḥadiths—especially the first—indicate. They show that after the iqāmah the imām has a duty he must fulfil: he must instruct the worshippers to straighten their rows and remind them of it, for he is responsible for them: “Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you is answerable for his flock…”.

33 – “One of you notices the speck in his brother’s eye, yet forgets the log—or the stick—obstructing his own eye.”

It was narrated by Ibn Ṣāʿid in the Zawāʾid to al-Zuhd of Ibn al-Mubārak (165/1 of al-Kawākib 575), by Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ (1848), by Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah (4/99), and by al-Quḍāʿī in Musnad al-Shihāb (51/1), through several chains from Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayr who said: “Jaʿfar ibn Burqān narrated to us from Yazīd ibn al-Aṣamm from Abū Hurayrah, traced back to the Prophet.”

Abū Nuʿaym said: “It is singular (gharīb) in the narration of Yazīd; Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayr alone reported it from Jaʿfar.”

I say: All its transmitters are trustworthy and are the narrators of the Ṣaḥīḥ. There is no defect in it, so the ḥadith is sound.