Abu Dawud

861. Commentary:
➊ The six aforementioned narrations are well-known and famous by the name of «حديث مسئي الصّلاة» (i.e., the man who prayed incorrectly). His name was Khallad bin Rafi‘ radi Allahu anhu.
➋ Due to ignorance, a person’s acts of worship can in no way be correct or valid; therefore, it is necessary for every Muslim to make arrangements to acquire the essential knowledge of his religion, and this is obligatory.
➌ For the purpose of education and training, the teacher should adopt various methods to inspire the students to seek knowledge and to motivate them to correct their mistakes. Just as the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made that person repeat the prayer two or three times.
➍ Many rulings of prayer are included in this hadith. The scholars of hadith say that perhaps he was already familiar with them.
➎ The orderly completion of ablution (wudu), supplication after it, the iqamah for an individual, specifying the phrase “Allahu Akbar” for the beginning of prayer, the opening supplication (thana) and al-Fatihah, recitation of the Qur’an, the transitional takbirs and tasmi‘, keeping the back straight in bowing (ruku‘) and prostration (sujud), sitting with the feet spread out instead of squatting on the heels, and tranquility and composure in the pillars—these are the rulings that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught him with his blessed tongue. The noble jurists have used the terms obligatory (fard), necessary (wajib), Sunnah, and recommended (mustahabb) for these rulings, but in reality, this lessens their importance. Whereas, in the face of the command of the Messenger, there should be no question except submission and compliance.
➏ The most important issue in the background of this hadith is the obligation of composure and tranquility (itmi’nan); without it, the prayer is not valid, even if it is performed in the Prophet’s Mosque. Among the Hanafi imams, Imam Tahawi rahimahullah has also explicitly stated the obligation of tranquility.
➐ Some people have tried to deduce from «ثم اقرا بما تيسر معك من القرآن» that reciting al-Fatihah is not obligatory, but this deduction is extremely weak, because in one chain of this hadith (Hadith: 859), there is explicit mention of «ثمَّ اقرَأْ بأُمِّ القُرآنِ وبما شاء اللهُ أنْ تَقرَأَ», i.e., recite al-Fatihah and whatever Allah enables you to recite.
An example of the weakness of their deduction is that in the Qur’an, regarding the rulings of Hajj, Allah Ta‘ala says:
«فَمَن تَمَتَّعَ بِالْعُمْرَةِ إِلَى الْحَجِّ فَمَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْيِ» [2-البقرة:196]
“And whoever takes advantage of combining ‘umrah with Hajj, then he must offer a sacrifice of whatever is easy for him.” And it is clear that in Hajj tamattu‘, the minimum sacrifice is one goat, and it is a condition that its teeth have fallen out and regrown, as is clear from authentic ahadith. The meaning of “whatever is easy” is in no way an open license, rather it is specified by a particular quality. Similarly, the explanation of «ثم اقرا بما تيسر معك من القرآن» is Surah al-Fatihah, as has come in Hadith 859 and other authentic and explicit ahadith—except if someone is extremely incapable and cannot recite anything at all, then he may recite tasbih and tahlil.
➑ In light of the words of «ثم افضل ذلك فى صلاتك كلها», it is necessary to observe these etiquettes and teachings in every single rak‘ah. Included in this is tranquility and the recitation of al-Fatihah, and Allah is the One who grants success.