an act of consensus, as (7) we have mentioned on the authority of al-Zuhri and others, and the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, forbade it, and they narrated the hadith and acted upon it. Furthermore, it is a time during which the Imam is forbidden from supererogatory prayer, so it is disliked for the follower as well, like all other times of prohibition, and as it is before the prayer according to Abu Hanifah, and as it is if one were in the musalla (prayer ground) according to Malik. Al-Athram said: I asked Ahmad, and Sulayman ibn Harb said: The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, only abandoned supererogatory prayer because he was an Imam. Ahmad replied: Those who narrated this from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not perform supererogatory prayer either. He then said: Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas, they both narrated it and acted upon it. He was indicating—and Allah knows best—that the practice of the narrator of a hadith according to his narration is an interpretation of it, and his interpretation takes precedence over the interpretation of others. If the dislike were for the Imam only so that he would not be occupied away from the prayer, it would be restricted to what is before the prayer, since there is nothing left after it for him to be occupied with. Moreover, it is supererogatory prayer in the musalla at the time of the Eid prayer, so it is disliked, just like that which they agreed upon; and their analogy is invalidated by the Imam. It has been narrated from Amr ibn Shu'ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would pronounce the takbir in the Eid prayer seven times and five times, and would say: "There is no prayer before it or after it" (8). Ibn Aqil mentioned that the Imam Ibn Battah narrated it with his chain of transmission.

Section: It was said to Ahmad: What if a man performs a prayer at that time? He said: I fear that some who see him might follow his example. He meant that he should not pray. Ibn Aqil said: Ahmad disliked intentionally setting out to make up for a missed prayer, and he said: I fear they might follow his example.

Section: Supererogatory prayer is only disliked in the place of prayer. As for elsewhere, there is no harm in it. Likewise, if he leaves the place and then returns to it after the prayer, there is no harm in performing supererogatory prayer therein. Abdullah ibn Ahmad said: I heard my father say: Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not pray before or after it.