However, if a person supplicates in the last rak'ah with a verse [from the Quran, similar to what al-Siddiq did, it has been narrated from Ahmad that he was asked about that. He replied: 'If he wishes, he may say it; and we do not know if that was recitation by Abu Bakr or supplication.' This indicates that there is no harm in that, because it is a supplication in prayer, so it is not disliked, just like supplication in the Tashahhud] (10).
190 - Issue: He said: (And whoever is among the men and has upon him that which covers what is between his navel and his knee, that suffices him.)
The entirety of this matter is that covering the nakedness ('awrah) from view with that which does not reveal the skin is obligatory and a condition for the validity of the prayer (1). Al-Shafi'i and the companions of reason (Ashab al-Ra'y) held this view. Some of the companions of Malik said: Covering it is obligatory, but not a condition for the validity of the prayer. Some of them said: It is a condition when one is mindful, not when one is forgetful (2). [They argued that it is not a condition on the basis that its obligation is not exclusive to prayer, so it is not a condition for it, just like avoiding praying in a usurped house] (3). [Our evidence is what Aisha narrated that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said] (4): "Allah does not accept the prayer of a menstruating woman (a woman of age) except with a head covering (khimar)." Narrated by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi (5), who said it is a hassan (good) hadith. Salamah ibn al-Akwa' said: I said, O Messenger of...
(10) In the original: "There is no harm in it; because of the action of al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, and because it is a supplication in prayer; it is similar to if he supplicated with something other than a verse, and like the supplication of the Tashahhud." (1) After this, the original contains the addition: "according to the opinion of the majority of scholars," then it brings the report from Ibn Abd al-Barr, and it will appear in M later. (2) In the original, the addition: "And some of them said: Covering is obligatory, and not a condition; because its obligation is not exclusive to the prayer, so it is not stipulated for it, like paying off a debt when requested." (3) Omitted from the original. (4) In the original: "And our evidence is the saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." (5) Extracted by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on a woman praying without a head covering, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/149. And al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter on what has been narrated that the prayer of a woman is not accepted except with a head covering, from the Chapters of Prayer. Aridat al-Ahwadhi 2/169. It was also extracted by Ibn Majah, in: Chapter if a girl reaches puberty she does not pray except with a head covering, from the Book of Purification. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/215. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 6/150, 218, 259.
