Hisham ibn ‘Ammar narrated to me; Sadaqah ibn Khalid related to us; Zayd ibn Waqid, from Hiram ibn Hakim and Makḥūl, from Ibn Rabīʿah al-Anṣārī, from ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit (may Allah be pleased with him).

At that time ʿUbādah was responsible for Iliyāʾ (Jerusalem). He arrived late for the dawn prayer, so Abū Nuʿaym commenced the prayer—he was the first man ever to give the call to prayer in Bayt al-Maqdis. I came with ʿUbādah after the people had already formed their rows while Abū Nuʿaym was reciting aloud. ʿUbādah then recited Umm al-Qurʾān (the Opening Chapter) in a voice audible enough for us to discern it from him. When the prayer was over I said to him, “I heard you reciting the Opening Chapter.” He replied, “Yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once led us in several prayers in which we do not raise our voices in recitation, and he said: ‘When I recite aloud, none of you should recite anything except Umm al-Qurʾān.’ ”

Some transmitters give the wording: “There is no prayer except with the Opening Chapter.” This has the same sense as his statement: “There is no prayer for whoever does not recite the Opening Chapter,” because there is no valid prayer without recitation.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: “Prayer is only for the recitation of the Quran, for the remembrance of Allah, and for a person to present his need to his Lord.” In this he clarified that supplication, petition, humble entreaty, remembrance, and recitation all proceed from the servant, while the words recited are the speech of Allah.