Hadith 6
Muṭarrif ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Shikhkhīr narrated: “ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn and I prayed behind ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ⦗raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu⦘. Whenever he went down into prostration he would say the takbīr; whenever he raised his head he would say the takbīr; and when he rose after the two rakʿahs he would say the takbīr. When the prayer was finished, ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn took my hand and said, ‘This man has reminded me of the prayer of Muhammad ﷺ,’ or, ‘He has led us in the prayer of Muhammad ﷺ.’”

Overall meaning:
These two noble hadiths lay out the distinctive hallmark of the prayer: affirming Allah’s greatness and majesty. It was made the prayer’s emblem precisely because the prayer was legislated to magnify and exalt Allah.

Thus, when the worshipper enters the prayer he pronounces the opening takbīr (takbīrat al-iḥrām) while standing upright. After finishing the recitation and inclining for bowing, he says another takbīr. When he rises from bowing and says, “Allah hears whoever praises Him,” and is fully erect, he praises and extols Allah, having returned to the finest posture—standing. He then pronounces the takbīr as he descends into prostration, and again when he lifts his head from it, continuing in this manner throughout the entire prayer until he completes it. When he rises from the first tashahhud in a prayer that contains two tashahhuds, he utters the takbīr as he is getting up.

Scholarly disagreement:
The scholars are unanimous that the opening takbīr is obligatory, because it is explicitly mentioned in the ḥadith of the man who prayed incorrectly. They differ over the remaining takbīrs.

Most jurists hold that these are not obligatory, arguing that the only mandatory acts of the prayer are those specified in the hadith of the man who prayed incorrectly, and these takbīrs are not listed there. Ibn Ḥajar states in Fatḥ al-Bārī: “The majority consider everything besides the opening takbīr to be recommended.”

Imām Aḥmad and Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī, however, deemed the transitional takbīrs obligatory. Their evidence is the Prophet’s continuous practice of them and his instruction, “Pray as you have seen me pray.” They also cite the report in Abū Dāwūd from ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā ibn Khallād, through his uncle, that the Prophet ﷺ said, “No one’s prayer is complete until he performs ablution,” after which the hadith mentions the takbīrs—an explicit textual proof on the matter.