The grammatical analysis of the word "two rak'ahs" in Aisha's statement: "The first thing that was prescribed was prayer, two rak'ahs"

The questioner : It is said that in some wordings of Aisha's hadith, it is mentioned that the first thing prescribed was prayer, two rak'ahs. Some commentators said that the grammatical status of "two rak'ahs" is a *hal* (circumstantial phrase) that takes the place of the predicate. However, this *hal* is only valid if the subject is a verbal noun, and here the subject is not a verbal noun. So what is its grammatical status?

The Shaykh : Its grammatical status is one of two possibilities: either it is a *hal* that takes the place of the predicate, provided it follows grammatical rules; or it is the predicate of a deleted *kana* (was), as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: "If you do good, it is for yourselves," meaning "it will be good for you." The meaning is: the first thing that was prescribed as prayer was that it was two rak'ahs.

The questioner : If it is not a verbal noun, it is not good. He also cites as evidence that it was reported that some Arab judges permitted...

The Shaykh : What did you just say? I said that grammarians do not judge Arabic, and if they set down rules, the subject must be a verbal noun, so we do not accept that from them. It may come as something other than a verbal noun; that is one point. Or we say that it is the predicate of a deleted statement, and the implied meaning is "it was two rak'ahs."