Is it permissible to add to al-Fatihah in the last two rak'ahs of a four-rak'ah prayer?

The questioner : This is an imam of a mosque, and one of the ma'mums objected to him, saying: "You are reciting a surah after al-Fatihah in the last two rak'ahs of the Dhuhr and 'Asr prayers." He said that he had asked some shaykhs, and they said that he is contrary to the Sunnah. Is this correct?

The Shaykh : The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on this issue: whether one should recite in the last two rak'ahs of Dhuhr and 'Asr or not. The well-known position in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad is that one does not recite, but restricts oneself to al-Fatihah only, based on what is established in *al-Sahihayn* from the hadith of Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) only. Some said: there is no harm in reciting, because of the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: He mentioned what indicates that he recites in the last two rak'ahs. However, this hadith is unique to Muslim, while the first is in *al-Sahihayn*. So some prioritized the first and said: this is anomalous. They also said: the hadith of Abu Qatadah is explicit in that he recites or does not recite, whereas this one says: "We estimated," and "estimated" means approximation and guessing, and approximation and guessing are not like certainty. What appears is that there is no harm in doing it occasionally, but as for making it a habit, no. Right, ask, ah, specifically.