—The compilers of the Sunan also recorded it—as mentioned earlier under “Facing the Kaʿba”—through the isnad of Hammam from Ishaq with the wording: “then he magnifies Allah (thumma yukabbiru-llah).” Abu Dawud likewise transmitted it from Musa ibn Ismail—Hammad related it—and his wording will be quoted shortly. (1) With the ta pronounced with a damma, the preferred reading; it denotes ritual purification. Al-Nawawi says in al-Majmuʿ: “Wudu is called a key because a state of impurity blocks prayer like a locked door, and one cannot enter except with a key.” (2) That is, the phrase “its prohibition” means forbidding within the prayer whatever Allah has forbidden; likewise, “its permission” (tahliluha) means permitting the acts that are lawful outside the prayer. The genitive linkage is merely associative, not possessive, for a possessive sense would distort the meaning. In this context “prohibition” and “permission” stand for the agent that prohibits or permits; the verbal noun is used figuratively to mean the doer. Calling the takbir and the taslim (*) the “prohibitor” and “permitter” is therefore metaphorical, for in reality Allah alone prohibits and permits. “Prohibition” may also be understood as ihram, i.e., entry into the prayer’s state of sanctity; an implicit term must then be supplied: “the instrument for entering its sanctity is the takbir.” Similarly, “permission” would mean exiting that sanctity, i.e., “the instrument for exiting it is the taslim.” Thus, just as the hadith shows that the gate of prayer is locked and cannot be opened except with purification, it also shows that entry into its sanctity is only by the takbir and exit only by the taslim. This is the majority view, as noted by al-Sindhi, and al-Shawkani concurs (2/145). — (*) So reads the printed text; the intended reference is to the taslim.