Reading a research paper and the Shaykh’s commentary on it.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. It has been established that the recitation in the Maghrib prayer is not always shortened, as is apparent from the words of the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them). However, what should be recited in the Maghrib prayer are the long surahs, just as the short surahs are also recited, though the most common practice is to recite the short surahs. Sulayman ibn Yasar reported from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said, “I have not seen a man whose prayer is more similar to the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) than so-and-so, an imam who was in Madinah.” The similarity and the likeness between the two have a difference, or is it in meaning? Good, what does the likeness imply? It implies exact correspondence, and the similarity is exact correspondence. Yes, and therefore he said “most similar,” which indicates that he is the person closest to resembling the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), not that it matches his prayer in every aspect, but he is the closest person to that. And when Abu Hurayrah spoke about that imam... from the Tabi'un, and the Tabi'un are from the preferred generations, eager to know the Sunnah, not just because it is the Sunnah, but in order to apply the Sunnah. The people’s acceptance of Prophetic knowledge means that one understands that this is Sunnah, this is disliked, this is forbidden, and so on. But the application—I say that people today, I do not say it is nonexistent, but it is very little. The reason is the weakness of faith and the abundance of distractions... meaning that faith is weak and the distractions are many and strong. When they recite the Qur'an, they do not go beyond ten verses until they learn them and the knowledge and practice contained in them, which is nothing but application. Whereas we recite hundreds of verses and do not know their meaning or the practice of them... Sulayman ibn al-Yasar says, “So I prayed behind him based on what?... He would lengthen the first two rak'ahs of the Dhuhr prayer and lighten the last two. And here, lengthening and shortening—does the meaning imply that he restricts the last two to the Fatiha, or that he makes the recitation lighter than the previous one? It is possible that this is the case, because if he lengthened the first two of the Dhuhr prayer to a great extent, then recited in the last two the Fatiha and a surah less than what preceded, then in the last two, relative to...