As for the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn al-Mubarak said: It is not established. As for the hadith of al-Bara', Ibn 'Uyaynah said: Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Layla, and he did not say: "Then he does not return [to doing it]." But when I came to Kufa, I heard him narrate it, and he said: "He does not return." So I thought that they had prompted him. Al-Humaydi (12) and others said: Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad's memory deteriorated at the end of his life, and he became confused. Furthermore, even if the two [hadiths of theirs] were authentic, giving preference to our hadiths would be more appropriate for five reasons: First, that they have a more authentic chain of transmission and more upright narrators, so the truth is closer to their statement. Second, that they are more numerous in narrators, so the presumption of truthfulness in their statement is stronger, and error is more remote from them. Third, that they are affirmative [narrators], and the affirmative narrator reports about something [he witnessed and saw] (13). Therefore, his statement must be given precedence due to his increased knowledge. The one who negates [the occurrence of an act] did not see anything, so his statement is not accepted; this is why we give precedence to the statement of the disparaging narrator over the one who provides a recommendation. Fourth, that they are affirmative [narrators] (14) who provided details in their narration and explicitly mentioned the raising of hands in the two disputed situations, whereas their opponent generalized (15) in his narration, covering both the disputed situation and others. Thus, it is mandatory to give precedence to our hadiths due to their explicit text and specificity over their general hadiths, which contain no such explicit text, just as the specific is given precedence over the general, and the explicit text over the apparent probable meaning. Fifth, that our hadiths were acted upon by the predecessors among the Companions and the Tabi'un, which indicates their strength. As for their statement that Ibn Mas'ud is an Imam, we say: We do not deny his excellence, but is he to be given precedence over the two Commanders of the Faithful, Umar and Ali, and the rest of those with them! By no means, and he is not equal to any one of them, so how could he be preferred over all of them? Moreover, the statement of Ibn Mas'ud was abandoned [in prayer] (16) in several matters, among them that he used to practice tatbiq (clasping hands together) during bowing, placing his hands between his knees, yet his action was not adopted, and the narration of others regarding placing the hands on the knees was adopted; his recitation was left and the recitation of Zayd ibn Thabit was adopted; and he did not see...