on the strength of the scholars who declared him reliable and the critics who judged the report sound. I have also located a supporting mursal report with the same purport. Al-Hazimi records it in al-Iʿtibār (no. 73) through the route of Abu al-ʿAliyah, who said: “Whenever the Prophet recited, all of his Companions recited aloud behind him until the verse was revealed: wa idha quriʾa al-Qurʾan fa-istamiʿu lahu wa ansitu laʿallakum turhamun (When the Quran is recited, listen attentively and keep silent so that you may be shown mercy); whereupon the people fell silent and the Messenger of Allah continued reciting.” The same report was transmitted by ʿAbd b. Humayd, Abu Shaykh, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Qirāʾah—as cited in Imām al-Kalām (p. 78). A second supporting mursal report was mentioned shortly before. Al-Hazimi also narrated it with a connected chain from Ibn ʿAbbas, but that isnād contains Ibn Luhayʿah. Given this, the hadith has been cited by those who forbid recitation behind the imam in audible prayers—namely the majority of scholars, including the three leading imams and others, as noted earlier—and it is the preference of most hadith specialists, as al-Tirmidhi states. Yet he, al-Bayhaqi, and others add that the hadith itself does not prove such prohibition, because Abu Hurayrah—the Companion who transmits it—has been authentically reported to have been asked about reciting al-Fatiha behind the imam, and he replied: “Recite it silently to yourself.” Muslim (2/9–10) and others record this. Had the hadith been firmly established or had it indicated prohibition, Abu Hurayrah would not have issued a contrary legal opinion. I say: Were this argument valid, it would entail rejecting many authentic sunan, and the first to contradict them would be those who advance the argument here, as any perceptive reader can see.