The Hanafi response is that the Prophet either recited only part of the surah, not all of it, or that the ruling was later abrogated—as Imam Muhammad has already claimed. The first explanation departs from the obvious sense of the texts and should not be adopted without clear evidence. All that our scholars can cite in its favour is the previously mentioned hadith of Abu Hurayra, which states that the Prophet used to recite the short mufassal surahs in Maghrib. Al-Tahawi and others then set that report against the traditions that recommend reciting the long mufassal surahs and re-interpreted the latter accordingly. Such an approach is unnecessary, for the reports can be harmonised far more naturally by recognising that the Prophet varied his practice, as noted earlier—especially since some of these traditions, as al-Lakhnawi has shown, cannot bear that re-interpretation at all. As for the claim of abrogation, it is invalid. The sound hadith in question plainly states that the Prophet recited the surah in the very last prayer he ever performed. If there were any ground for invoking abrogation, the opposite claim would be nearer to the mark and more worthy of acceptance. Yet no such claim is required so long as the reports can be reconciled in the manner outlined above. Allah is the grantor of success. (1) I.e. the longer of the two longest surahs. Tula is the feminine of atwal (longer), and al-tulayayn is its dual form. The two surahs are unanimously al-Araf and, more probably, al-Anam; see Fath al-Bari. (2) The report comes from Zayd ibn Thabit, transmitted by Marwan ibn al-Hakam and then by Urwa ibn al-Zubayr. The first chain is recorded by al-Bukhari (2/196), Abu Dawud (1/129), al-Nasa’i (1/154), Ibn Khuzayma (1/68/2 = 1/259/516), al-Bayhaqi (2/392), and Ahmad (5/188–189) through various routes from Ibn Jurayj, who said: “I heard Abd Allah ibn Abi Mulayka relate …”. (*) See above, p. 480.