so how could one possibly refrain from listening to the imam’s recitation when, by listening, he gains all the benefit of the recitation itself? The listener receives a reward equal to that of the reciter. This is further confirmed by their unanimous agreement that, whenever the imam recites aloud anything beyond al-Fatihah, the congregation remains silent; had silent listening not earned them the reward of the recitation, their own reading would have been preferable to listening to the imam. In sum, a careful examination shows that ruling the hadith authentic is the stronger position and fully sufficient as evidence; those who class it weak offer no proof that withstands critical scrutiny. Like the verse cited earlier, this hadith proves that listening to the imam’s Qur’an recitation is obligatory, yet it is even broader in scope, for it covers al-Fatihah and everything else. The Shafiʿis and others, however, restricted its applicability to what lies beyond al-Fatihah and held that reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory. We have already explained that the hadith they cite for this obligation proves only permissibility—and even then a less-preferred permissibility, as al-Kashmiri has shown. If some qualification must be admitted, it can only be a concession permitting the follower to recite al-Fatihah, not an obligation to do so; the gap between this concession and the prohibition inferred from the verse and the present hadith is therefore slight, for both ultimately lead to abandoning personal recitation and listening to the imam, which is the desired outcome. This line of reconciliation is possible if one insists on harmonising the reports, yet we have already shown that the hadith allowing recitation is abrogated by the hadith of Abu Hurayrah and by the reason for the revelation of the verse. Shaykh al-Islam likewise demonstrated that sound reasoning confirms the verse’s continued general applicability; the same, then, is to be said about the hadith now under discussion. Here is the remainder of Shaykh al-Islam’s words on the hadith: “This explains the wisdom behind recitation being waived for the congregant and why following the imam takes precedence over everything else, even bodily actions. If he joins the imam while he is prostrating, he prostrates with him; if he finds him in the odd (final) sitting of the prayer, he recites the tashahhud after that sitting. Were someone praying alone to do this, it would be invalid; he does it only because he is following the imam. Thus, conforming to the imam makes obligatory what is not obligatory for the solitary worshipper, and [removes from him what would otherwise be obligatory].” Elsewhere he says (2/412):