Reciting al-Fātiḥah behind the imam in the audible prayers

Imam Abū ʿAbd Allāh—may Allah have mercy on him—said: Should an ignorant person of no consequence interrupt and say, “When the Prophet ﷺ declared, ‘There is no prayer except with the Opening Chapter of the Book,’ that proves every worshipper must himself recite during the prayer,” he is to be told:

“You have overlooked the explicit, widely transmitted reports known to the scholars of the Ḥijāz, Iraq, Syria, and all the other lands, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in fact said: ‘There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening Chapter of the Book.’ By wording it so he made clear that the worshipper’s act of reading and reciting is something distinct from the text that is read and recited; the text required is the Opening Chapter of the Book, and on this there is no dispute among the scholars. If this objector is unfamiliar with the language, let him ask the people of knowledge among the various communities, as Allah—exalted is He—says: “He guides to the way of right conduct” (Q 72:2).

If he would but apply understanding, he would see that nothing compels us to such lengthy clarification and explanation save our awareness of how many people are linguistically constrained. There is no power except with Allah.