Asl Sifat Salat al-Nabi - Nasir al-Din al-Albani - (1/400)

Now, there was a man from the Anṣār (*) who used to lead them in prayer in the mosque of Qubāʾ. Every time he began a surah in the prayer from what he normally recited for them (1), he would open with: “Qul huwa Allāhu ʾAḥad” (2) and would recite it to the end, after which he would add another surah alongside it. He did that in every single rakʿah.

His companions spoke to him and said, “You start with this surah, yet you do not deem it sufficient until you recite another with it. Either recite it alone, or leave it aside and recite something else.”

He replied, “I am not going to abandon it. If you wish me to lead you in prayer on that basis, I will; but if you dislike it, I will step aside.”

They regarded him as the best among them and were unwilling for anyone else to lead them. When the Prophet ﷺ came to them, they informed him of the matter. He said, “O so-and-so! What keeps you from doing what your companions ask of you? And what makes you so attached to this surah in every rakʿah?”

on the conditions accepted by both al-Bukhari and Muslim. (*) The Shaykh inserted a private note here: “Verify his name.” For clarification: the man is variously recorded as Kulthum ibn al-Hidam, Kulthum ibn Zuhdam, or Kurz ibn Zuhdam; see the discussion in Fath al-Bari, 2/334. (1) I.e., a passage from a surah recited after al-Fatihah. (2) Ibn Hajar observes (2/205): “Those who claim that reciting al-Fatihah is not obligatory have relied on this report. The reply is that the narrator simply omitted al-Fatihah because its recitation is already assumed; thus the sense is that he opened with another surah after al-Fatihah. Alternatively, the event may have taken place before the proof establishing the obligation of al-Fatihah was conveyed.”

وقد " كان رجل من الأنصار (*) يؤمهم في مسجد قُباء، وكان كلما افتتح سورة يقرأ بها لهم في الصلاة مما يقرأ به (١) ؛ افتتح بـ: ﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾ (٢) حتى يفرغ منها، ثم يقرأ سورة أخرى معها؛ وكان يصنع ذلك في كل ركعة. فكلمه أصحابه؛ فقالوا: إنك تفتتح بهذه السورة، ثم لا ترى أنها تجزئك حتى تقرأ بأخرى؛ فإما أن تقرأ بها، وإما أن تدعها، وتقرأ بأخرى. فقال: ما أنا بتاركها، إن أحببتم أن أؤمكم بذلك؛ فعلت، وإن كرهتم؛ تركتكم. وكانوا يرون أنه من أفضلهم، وكرهوا أن يؤمهم غيره. فلما أتاهم النبي ﷺ؛ أخبروه الخبر؛ فقال: " يا فلان! ما يمنعك أن تفعل ما يأمرك به أصحابك؟ وما يحملك على لزوم هذه السورة في كل ركعة؟ ".

على شرطهما. (*) كتب الشيخ ﵀ هنا - ملاحظة لنفسه -: " يراجع اسمه ". وللفائدة نقول: هو كُلْثوم بن الهِدْم. أو كلثوم بن زهدم. أو كُرز بن زهدم؛ على خلاف تراه في " الفتح " (٢/٣٣٤) . (١) أي: من السورة بعد ﴿الفَاتِحَة﴾ . (٢) قال الحافظ (٢/٢٠٥) : " تمسك به من قال: لا يشترط قراءة ﴿الفَاتِحَة﴾ . وأجيب بأن الراوي لم يذكر ﴿الفَاتِحَة﴾ ؛ اغتناء بالعلم؛ لأنه لا بد منها، فيكون معناه: افتتح بسورة بعد ﴿الفَاتِحَة﴾ . أو كان ذلك قبل ورود الدليل الدال على اشتراط ﴿الفَاتِحَة﴾ ".