Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "That prayer is not valid in which Surah Al-Fatihah is not recited." (The narrator states: I said to Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him): What if I am behind the Imam? He took my hand and said: Recite (Surah Al-Fatihah) in your heart.) (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) In the narration transmitted by Alaa, the words "the prayer is not valid" have only been narrated by Shu’bah, and from him only Wahb bin Jarir and Muhammad bin Kathir have narrated it. Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says: These are the types of narrations about which we have mentioned in the book "Shara’it al-Akhbar" that sometimes the command of the Book of Allah is permanent in one situation, while in another situation it is not permanent, until it is used in its general sense regarding which the command has come. And in some situations, it is not permanent, until it is attributed to a general word, which is an absolute address in the Book, unless the Sunnah clarifies it. However, the Sunnahs of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) are, in their existence, independent; they do not need the Book of Allah for their clarification. The Sunnahs clarify the general commands of the Book of Allah and explain its ambiguous rulings. Allah Almighty has said: "And We have sent down to you the Reminder so that you may clarify to the people what has been sent down to them." So here Allah Almighty has informed that the clarification of His command, "Establish prayer and give zakat," and similar commands in the Book of Allah with general words, is to be done by the Messenger of Allah. So it is impossible that something which is meant to clarify should itself need something ambiguous, because the need is for the ambiguous thing to be clarified by something explanatory. This is contrary to the position of the one who holds that it is necessary to present the Sunnah before the Book of Allah, so such a person, on the basis of his principle, has presented something whose report does not agree, and reflection rejects its correctness.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa‘id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded us to recite Surah Al-Fatihah and to recite whatever (part of the Qur’an) is easy (for us). (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says: The command to recite Surah Al-Fatihah during prayer is a command of obligation; the obligation of this command is established by other narrations, which we have mentioned in other places in our books. The command to recite“whatever is easy”is not obligatory; consensus indicates this.)