(1) Al-Tirmidhi said: “This is the position held by the scholars among the Companions, the Followers, and those after them: they regarded recitation while bowing or prostrating as disliked.” I add: The same ruling was stated explicitly by Imam Muhammad, who said, “It is also the view of Abu Hanifah.” Apparently they make no distinction between obligatory and voluntary prayers, because the hadith is general. ʿAtaʾ disagreed, saying, “I do not object to reciting while bowing or prostrating in voluntary prayer.” Ibn Jurayj said: “ʿAtaʾ informed me that he heard ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr reciting while bowing and while prostrating in a voluntary prayer.” (Qiyam al-Layl, 77.) ʿAtaʾ’s proof is probably the report cited earlier under “Recitation in the Night Prayer” (p. 534), where the Prophet spent the whole night repeating a single verse, bowing and prostrating with it. The reconciliation between that narration and the present hadith has been explained there; see the discussion. Al-Khattabi said in al-Maʿalim (1/214): “His prohibition of reciting while bowing or prostrating supports Ishaq’s view that specific dhikr is obligatory in those postures; the place was left free of recitation so that it might be devoted to remembrance and supplication.” (2) The hadith is narrated from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib: “The Messenger of Allah forbade me to recite the Quran while I am bowing or prostrating.” It was recorded by Muslim (2/48–49), Abu ʿAwana (2/171, 172, 175), and Abu Dawud.