that no transmission chain of the hadith explicitly states that he ﷺ used to say it in voluntary prayers—except, perhaps, in the report of Muhammad b. Maslama that will be cited shortly. Al-Shafi‘i and his followers adopted this form of istiftah (opening supplication), judging it the most meritorious, with the report of Abu Hurayra mentioned earlier ranking next. They also held that it should be recited in full, omitting nothing, and we have already quoted al-Shafi‘i’s own words on the matter. Despite this, you will hardly find any of his later adherents who actually do so; indeed most do not even memorise it, and many abandon the istiftah altogether—evidence of their lax attitude toward the sunnan and their neglect of his ﷺ practice. As for our Hanafī scholars, some have permitted using this form occasionally—as noted above—contrary to the view widely attributed to them, namely that it is never used, as stated in Sharh al-Wiqaya. Abu al-Hasanāt replied to that claim, saying: “It is authentically established from the Messenger of Allah in Sahih Muslim and Sunan Ibn Majah…”; his reference to Sahih al-Bukhari was a slip of the pen, for the correct source is Sahih Muslim. Some later jurists preferred to read this supplication before the opening takbir, believing that more effective in bringing the heart to attention and firm resolve, as mentioned in al-Nihaya, al-Binaya, and elsewhere. Abu al-Hasanāt objects: “This practice has no basis in the Sunnah; what the hadiths establish is directing oneself to Allah inside the prayer, not before it,” a point likewise made by ‘Ali al-Qari in Sharh al-Hisn al-Hasin. (3) Al-Nasa’i, al-Sunan, 1:143, through the chain: Yahya b. ‘Uthman al-Himsi → Ibn Himyar → Shu‘ayb b. Abi Hamza → Muhammad b. al-Munkadir (with another narrator mentioned before him) → ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Hurmuz al-A‘raj → Muhammad b. Maslama.