Azami 1977

Abu Dawud related it (818), he said, Abu Walid Tayalisi told us, Hammam told us, from Qatada, from Abu Nadra, from Abu Saeed, and he mentioned the hadith, and its isnad is sahih. Al-Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari 2:243, "Its chain is strong." And he said in Talkhis, "Its isnad is sahih." Hammam is Ibn Yahya Awdhi, trustworthy. Ibn Saad, Ajli, and Hakim confirmed his reliability, and Abu Zura said, "There is no harm in him." He is one of the narrators accepted by the major hadith compilers.Abu Nadra is Munzir bin Malik bin Qita, with the qaf voweled with damma and the unpointed letter with fatha, al-Awqi, with the unpointed letter and the waw voweled with fatha, then a qaf, al-Basri. He is well known by his kunya, and is trustworthy. Ibn Main, Abu Zura, Ahmad, Nasai, and others confirmed his reliability.Ibn Hibban graded it sahih, and related it in his Sahih (1790) through the route of Abdul-Samad, Hammam told us with the same chain, likewise. And from Abdul-Samad, Imam Ahmad related it (10998).Some hadith scholars considered this hadith similar to the statement of to the man who prayed poorly, "Recite whatever is easy for you of the Quran", meaning after the Fatihah, reconciling between the narrations, because combining a surah with the Fatihah is not obligatory according to the majority view, rather it is recommended. This is the view held by Malik, Shafii, and Ahmad.As for what Tirmidhi related (238) and Ibn Majah (839), both through the route of Abu Sufyan Tarif Saadi, from Abu Nadra, from Abu Saeed, as a raised report, "There is no prayer for one who does not recite in every rakat, the Hamdu Lillah and a surah, whether in an obligatory prayer or otherwise," and the wording is Ibn Majah's, this is daif, even though Tirmidhi graded it hasan. Perhaps this is because of what he mentioned from the wording of the hadith, "The key to prayer is purification, its prohibition is the takbir, and its release is the taslim." Then he mentioned it as Ibn Majah mentioned it, and it was mentioned earlier in the book of purification (276), except that Tirmidhi did not mention in this place the recitation of the Hamdu Lillah and a surah from the Quran. So perhaps this is something in which Abu Sufyan Tarif Saadi became confused, since he is daif. Abu Hatim and Ibn Main graded him daif, and Nasai said, "He is discarded."Then I came across Bukhari's statement in Tarikh al-Kabir 4:357, in the biography of Tarif bin Shihab Abu Sufyan, that he critiqued the hadith of Abu Saeed after mentioning it with a suspended chain, saying, "Ibn Fudayl said, from Abu Sufyan, from Abu Nadra, from Abu Saeed, the Prophet commanded us that the Fatihah of the Book be recited along with whatever else is easy," with another hadith of Abu Saeed, which is what he related from Musaddad, Yahya told us, from Awwam bin Hamza, Abu Nadra told us, I asked Abu Saeed about recitation behind the imam, and he said, the Fatihah of the Book. Bukhari said, "This is more fitting, because Abu Hurairah and more than one other narrator mentioned from the Prophet , 'There is no prayer without the Fatihah of the Book.'" Abu Hurairah said, "If you add more, it is better, and if you do not, it suffices you." End of quote.I say, the first text was not narrated solely by Abu Sufyan Tarif bin Shihab from Abu Nadra, rather Qatada corroborated him as you have seen, unlike the second text, which Abu Sufyan Tarif bin Shihab narrated alone. The meaning of the first text differs from the meaning of the second text, since the first text does not require the recitation of anything along with the Fatihah, unlike the second text. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.