Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I prayed behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), behind Abu Bakr, behind Umar, behind Uthman and behind Ali, and all of them used to recite "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" aloud. I have mentioned this hadith only as a supporting report for what preceded it. These reports that we have mentioned contradict the hadith of Qatadah which our imams narrate from him. There remain on this topic reports from the Commander of the Believers Uthman, Ali, Talhah bin Ubaydullah, Jabir bin Abdullah, Abdullah bin Umar, al-Hakam bin Umayr al-Thumali, al-Nu'man bin Bashir, Samurah bin Jundub, Buraydah al-Aslami and Aishah, the daughter of al-Siddiq, all of which I have recorded for this chapter; I left them out preferring brevity, and have abridged from them what suits this chapter. Likewise I have mentioned in this chapter those of the Companions, the Successors and their followers (may Allah be pleased with them) who recited Bismillah aloud.

Sa'id bin Sim'an said: Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) came in to us in the mosque of Banu Zurayq and said: "There are three things that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do which the people have abandoned: when he stood for the prayer, he would do like this" - and Abu Amir gestured with his hand, neither spreading his fingers apart nor pressing them together. This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it. Its explanatory supporting report is the following.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to spread his fingers wide in the prayer. Sa'id bin Sim'an is a well-known Successor (tabi'i) from the people of Madinah.