(1) The mention of Moses occurs in the verse: “Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our signs and a manifest authority” (Q 23:45). The mention of Jesus appears four verses later: “And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign, and We gave them refuge on a hillside, furnished with security and running water” (Q 23:50). (2) The word saʿla (cough) is pronounced with a fat-ḥa on its first consonant, though a ḍammah is also permissible. From this it is inferred that coughing does not invalidate the prayer. Ibn Ḥajar comments (2/203): “This is clear when the cough overcomes him.” He continues: “It follows that stopping one’s recitation because of coughing and the like is preferable to persisting in recitation while coughing and clearing the throat, even if that results in shortening the recitation where lengthening is recommended.” Al-Nawawī states in his Sharḥ Muslim: “The ḥadīth shows the permissibility of interrupting a recitation and of reciting only part of a sūrah. This is unanimously allowed and not disliked when the interruption is for a valid excuse; even without an excuse it is not disliked, though it is contrary to what is preferable. This is our view and that of the majority. Mālik has one report agreeing with this, although his well-known position is that it is disliked.” I say: The present ḥadīth is not open to criticism, for the interruption was necessary; what is open to discussion will be mentioned later under the Sunnah of the dawn prayer and the Maghrib prayer, where he, ﷺ, confined himself to part of a sūrah. (3) The report comes from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Sāʾib, who said: “The Prophet, ﷺ, led us in the dawn prayer at Mecca and began reciting Sūrah al-Muʾminūn. When he reached the passage mentioning Moses and Aaron—or, according to some narrators, the mention of Jesus—a cough overtook the Prophet, so he bowed.” Related by Muslim (2/29), al-Nasāʾī (1/156), Ibn Mājah (1/273), and al-Ṭaḥāwī.