—he said—“so this remains only a possibility.” He therefore did not assert the point categorically, but mentioned it merely as one of several possibilities; the matter is flexible. The sound position, held by the majority, is that the sunnah is to recite it quietly. Even so, what is normally recited inaudibly may be pronounced aloud when there is a clear overriding benefit: the imam may do so occasionally to teach those praying behind him, and individual worshippers may sometimes raise their voices with a few brief words, as in the reports of Ibn Umar and Anas b. Malik cited earlier under the opening supplication (nos. 7–8). The Prophet ﷺ did not censure either man for reciting his opening supplication aloud, and Umar likewise recited it aloud in order to instruct the people, as mentioned there. Shaykh al-Islam (1/87) said: “It is also permissible for a person to leave aside what is preferable in order to foster harmony and unify hearts, fearing that people might be put off from something beneficial—just as the Prophet ﷺ refrained from rebuilding the House upon the foundations of Ibrahim because his people were still recent converts from the pre-Islamic period and might have been alienated by it. He judged that the benefit of unity and concord outweighed the benefit of rebuilding on Ibrahim’s foundations. Ibn Masud, when he completed the prayer behind Uthman and objected to the four-rak‘ah prayer, was asked about it and replied, ‘Discord is evil.’ For this reason leading jurists—such as Ahmad and others—explicitly allowed, in matters like the basmalah (saying “Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim”) and combining witr, to depart from what is superior to what is merely permissible but less virtuous, in order to keep the congregation together or to teach them the sunnah, and similar considerations. Allah knows best.”