though the jurists differ over whether reciting while bowing or prostrating actually invalidates the prayer. (The wording of the prohibition is absolute; it covers both obligatory and supererogatory prayers. The additional clause recorded by Ibn ʿAsakir (17/299/1), “As for voluntary prayer, there is no blame,” is isolated or objectionable. Ibn ʿAsakir himself judged its chain defective, so it is not admissible as proof.) (1) I.e., glorify, exalt, and magnify Him. The Prophet specified the phrases that accomplish this glorification in the hadiths cited earlier in this section. Know that saying the tasbih during bowing and prostration is a sunnah, not an obligation; this is the position of Malik, Abu Hanifah, al-Shafi‘i, and the majority. Ahmad and a group of hadith specialists deemed it obligatory, relying on the outward sense of the command and on his statement, “Pray as you have seen me pray” (in Sahih al-Bukhari). The majority reply that the command indicates recommendation only, citing the hadith of “the man who prayed poorly,” for the Prophet did not instruct him to say it; had it been obligatory he would have done so (al-Nawawi, Sharh Muslim). Note also that the apparent implication of the hadith is that bowing is confined to glorification and tasbih, whereas prostration is not; yet we have already shown that this implication is not intended, for authentic reports establish supplication in bowing (see above) and tasbih in prostration (to be cited below). (2) The word may be read with either a kasrah or a fatha on the initial mīm; in both cases it means “worthy” or “deserving.” Some hold that the form with fatha functions as a verbal noun, while with kasrah it is an adjective. (3) This is an excerpt from the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them.