—yet the Prophet ﷺ did not instruct him to repeat the prayer; instead, he taught him that speech would henceforth be forbidden, saying: “This prayer is unfit for any of the talk of ordinary people; it consists only of tasbih (glorifying Allah), takbir (magnifying Him), and reciting the Quran.” Does the Prophet’s ﷺ failure to command a repetition mean that speaking in the prayer is permissible? Absolutely not. Whatever answer Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr and those who share his view give for this report is precisely our answer concerning the hadith of Fadala. It is true that the hadith does not show that sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ is a pillar (rukn) of the prayer whose omission would invalidate it; rather, it shows that it is obligatory, so the one who leaves it incurs sin. Take note of this, and Allah knows best. Anyone who wishes to delve further should consult Ibn al-Qayyim’s Jalaʾ al-Afham, pp. 222–248, a lengthy discussion containing valuable points found nowhere else. The hadith also indicates that offering blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ before making supplication is a cause for one’s duʿa to be answered. ʿAli (may Allah ennoble his face) said: “Every supplication is veiled until blessings are invoked upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.” Al-Tabarani relates this in al-Awsat; its transmitters are reliable, as stated in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid (10/160). Further reports on the topic are collected by Ibn al-Qayyim in a special section of Jalaʾ al-Afham (pp. 260–261); one of them, the narration from Ibn Masʿud, was mentioned above.