His saying: (Whoever leads a group, let him shorten the prayer), even though his (peace and blessings be upon him) action was to lengthen it on some occasions.

The questioner : In reconciling the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , and his recitation of some long surahs in his prayers, we should understand the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in light of his action. So if a person recites Surah al-Tur in the Maghrib prayer, he has shortened it. But Shaykh, what if someone says that this is from the verbal Sunnah of the Prophet and that is from his practical Sunnah, and the verbal is preferred over the practical?

The Shaykh : We say: The answer is from two angles. First, his saying: , was in response to a specific cause. The meaning of "let him shorten" is to shorten from what this man did. It is like his saying, when he saw a man who had a canopy over him and saw a crowd around him while he was fasting: . This is not a general statement; rather, fasting while traveling that leads to this state is not from righteousness. Based on this, we say: , meaning based on the lengthening by this man. As for the second angle, we say: Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: .