Discussion on the excellence of performing the prayer and the differences that have arisen in it.

The Shaykh : ... and among the evil of our deeds, whoever Allah guides has no one to mislead, and whoever He misleads has no one to guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger, , . As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their innovations. Every innovation is a religious innovation, every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. And after that:
All of you know that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) commanded in more than one verse of the Qur'an to perform the prayer with excellence, as in His saying (Mighty and Majestic): . Likewise, all of you know that the establishment of the prayer commanded in this verse does not mean merely performing it, except insofar as that coincides with the person... praying as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray. Among the wonders of what has occurred in this Ummah regarding differences, as al-San'ani says in *Subul al-Salam*, is the disagreement of Muslims regarding the manner of this prayer; even though the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) continued to perform it openly, before the eyes of witnesses, and leading the congregation, for nearly twenty years. Yet you find them still differing in how it is prayed. One says, for example, that he recites the Basmala aloud, while another says he recites it silently, and a third says he does not recite it at all. One says he begins with the supplication: "Subhanaka Allahumma..." and so on, while others say that raising the hands when bowing and when rising from it is a recommended practice (sunnah), and a group opposes them, saying: "That is also a recommended practice (sunnah)." The Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed the same prayer, and he prayed it before the same group of people; yet they differed. We do not deny the causes of difference regarding the early centuries, but we are amazed and we strongly disapprove of Muslims continuing to differ in such a great Islamic act of worship and religious observance. We disapprove of them remaining divided in its performance and manner after the causes that led the scholars before us to differ in that mentioned way have ceased. We are not now in a position to explain the causes of difference, for they are documented in the pages of the major books that... the causes of difference. But we are in a position to explain the manner of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer, in fulfillment of the desire of some of our brothers who suggested that we proceed to explain the manner of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer.