Sulaiman bin Yasar narrates that he heard Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) saying: I have not seen anyone who performed prayer more similar to the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) than such-and-such governor of Madinah. Sulaiman says: So I also prayed behind this governor (and he used to pray in such a way that) in the first two rak‘ahs of Zuhr he would recite at length, and in the last two rak‘ahs he would recite briefly. And he would make the ‘Asr prayer short. In the first two rak‘ahs of Maghrib prayer, he would recite the short surahs of al-Mufassal, and in the first two rak‘ahs of ‘Isha’ prayer, he would recite the medium-length surahs of al-Mufassal, and in the Fajr prayer, he would recite the long surahs of al-Mufassal.

Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Regarding recitation, this difference is of the permissible type. It is permissible for the one praying to recite whichever surah of the Qur’an he likes in Maghrib prayer and all other prayers in which recitation beyond Surah al-Fatihah is done; it is not prohibited for him to recite any surah of the Qur’an according to his wish. Except in the case when he is an imam, then it is better for him to recite briefly and not to recite at length and put people to trial (so that they abandon congregational prayer), as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Mu‘adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) for reciting at length:“Do you want to become a source of tribulation?”And as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has commanded the imams to lead light and brief prayers, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Whoever among you leads the people in prayer should make it light (i.e., should lead a brief prayer).”Soon I will mention all these ahadith or some of them in the Book of Imamah, because the original place for these ahadith is that book.