Muslim 882

20. Muslim reported it from Ibn Numayr, from Abu Usama, from Habib bin Shaheed, from Ata, from Abu Hurairah, who said, "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said, 'In every prayer there is a recitation. Whatever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, made audible to us, we make audible to you.'"I say, none but Abu Usama raised the beginning of this hadith to the status of a saying of the Prophet. Yahya Qattan, Saeed bin Abu Aruba, Abu Ubayda Haddad, and others contradicted him, narrating it from Habib bin Shaheed, from Ata, from Abu Hurairah, who said, "In every prayer there is a recitation. Whatever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, made audible to us, we make audible to you." They made the beginning of the hadith the words of Abu Hurairah himself, and that is the correct view. It was likewise narrated by Qatada, Ayub, Habib Muallim, and Ibn Jurayj.

Al-Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari, vol. 2, p. 252, Tabaqat al-Sahaba, after the statement of Abu Hurairah, "Every prayer in which there is recitation," that this is mawquf, as it is according to those we have mentioned, except for Habib bin Shaheed, who reported it as marfu with the wording, "There is no prayer without recitation." This is how Muslim included it, from the report of Abu Usama from him. Daraqutni objected to Muslim on this point, saying that the preserved version from Abu Usama treats it as mawquf, as the companions of Ibn Jurayj reported it. Ahmad likewise reported it from Yahya Qattan and Abu Ubayda Haddad, both of them from the aforementioned Habib, as mawquf.Abu Awana reported it through the route of Yahya bin Abu Hajjaj from Ibn Jurayj, matching the report of the group, but he added at the end, "and I heard him say, 'There is no prayer without the Opening of the Book.'" The apparent structure of this wording indicates that the pronoun in "I heard him" refers to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, which would make it marfu, unlike the report of the group. End of quote.Then al-Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari, Indeed, his statement, "whatever he made us hear and whatever he kept from us," suggests that everything he mentioned was received from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, which would give the whole thing the ruling of being marfu. End of quote.From the statements of these imams, it is established that treating "recitation is required in every prayer" as marfu is a mistake in this chain of transmission, and that the sahih position is that it is a statement of Abu Hurairah himself. Nevertheless, it is established through other routes as coming from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, as found in Juz Qira by Bukhari and the Book of Recitation by Bayhaqi. Indeed, in the Sahihayn there is the hadith of Ubada bin Samit, "There is no prayer for one who does not recite the Opening of the Book."Whoever wishes to look further into this matter should refer to Juz Qira Khalf al-Imam by Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him.

I say, but this is from the narration of Yahya bin Abu Hajjaj, and the Hafiz said in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, Muawiya bin Salih said, on the authority of Ibn Main, "He is nothing." Nasai said, "He is nothing, as Ibn Main said." Abu Hatim said, "He is not strong." Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators and said, "He may have erred." Then the Hafiz said, I say, and Ibn Adi said, "I see no harm in his hadith." End of quote. And the Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Weak in hadith." End of quote.