Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)

Abu Hurairah reported: when the Iqamah was pronounced for prayer during the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), the people would take their seats before the prophet (ﷺ) came to his seat.

Humaid reported : I asked Thabit al-Bunani whether it was permissible for a man to talk after the qamah had been pronounced. He narrated a tradition on the authority of Anas: (once) the Iqamah was pronounced, and a person came to the apostle of Allah (ﷺ) and detained him after the Iqamah had been pronounced.

‘Awn b. Kahmas reported on the authority of his father Kahmas : we stood for praying at Mina when the Imam had not come out. Some of us sat down (and I too). An old man from Kufah said to me: Why did you down? I said : Ibn Buraidah, this is Sumud (i.e., waiting for the Imam in the standing condition). The old man then narrated a tradition from ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Awaajah on the authority of al-Bara’ b. ‘Azib: We would stand in rows during the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for a long time before he pronounced Takbir. He further said; Allah, the Exalted and Mighty, sends blessings and the angles invoke blessings for those who are nearer to the front rows. No step is more liking to Allah than a step which one takes to join the row (of the prayer).

Anas reported : the Iqamah was pronounced (for the night prayer) and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) remained engaged in talking (to a person) in the corner of the mosque. He did not begin prayer until the people slept.

Abu al-Nadr said: when the Iqamah was pronounced and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saw that they (the people) were small in number, he would sit down, nd would not pray; but when he saw them (the people) large in number, he would pray.

This tradition has been transmitted through a different chain of narrators in a similar way by ‘Ali b. Abi Talib.

Narrated AbudDarda': I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If there are three men in a village or in the desert among whom prayer is not offered (in congregation), the devil has got the mastery over them. So observe (prayer) in congregation), for the wolf eats only the straggling animal. Sa'ib said: By the word Jama'ah he meant saying prayer in company or in congregation.

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying; I thought to give orders for arranging prayer in congregation, and then to have the Iqamah called for it, then to order a man to lead the people in prayer, then to go off in company of the people who have bundles of firewood to those people who are not present at the prayer and then to burn down their houses with fire.

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: I thought about giving orders to some youths for gathering a bundle of firewood, then going off to some people who their prayers in their homes without any excuse, and burning down their houses over them.I (Yazid b. Yazid) said: I asked Yazid b. al-Asamm: Abu ‘Awf did he mean Friday (prayer) or any other? He replied: may my ears become deaf if I have not heard Abu Hurairah narrating it from the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him); He did not mention Friday (prayer) or any other.

Abd Allah b. Mas’ud said: Persevere in observing these five times of prayer where the announcement for them is made, because they are from the paths of right guidance. And Allah, the Might, the Majestic, has laid down for his prophet (ﷺ) the paths of right guidance. I have seen the time when no one stayed away from prayer except a hypocrite whose hypocrite was well known. I witnessed the time when a man would be brought swaying between two men till he was set up in the row (of the prayer). Every one of us has a mosque of his in his house. If you were to pray in your houses and stay from your mosques. You would abandon the Sunnah (practice) of your prophet, and if you were Abandon the Sunnah (Practice) of your Prophet, you would become an unbeliever.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: If anyone hears him who makes the call to prayer and is not prevented from joining the congregation by any excuse--he was asked what an excuse consisted of and replied that it was fear or illness--the prayer he offers will not be accepted from him.

Narrated Amr ibn Za'dah, Ibn Umm Maktum: Ibn Umm Maktum asked the Prophet (ﷺ) saying: Messenger of Allah, I am a blind man, my house is far away (from the mosque), and I have a guide who does not follow me. Is it possible that permission be granted to me for saying prayer in my house? He asked: Do you hear summons (adhan)? He said: Yes. He said: I do not find any permission for you.

Narrated Ibn Umm Maktum: Messenger of Allah, there are many venomous creatures and wild beasts in Medina (so allow me to pray in my house because I am blind). The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do you hear the call, "Come to prayer," "Come to salvation"? (He said: Yes.) Then you must come.Abu Dawud said: Al-Qasim al-Jarmi has narrated this tradition from Sufyan in a similar manner. But his version does not contain the words "Then you must come."

Narrated Ubayy ibn Ka'b: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led us in the dawn prayer one day. And he said: Is so and so present? They said: No. He (again) asked: Is so and so present? They replied: No. He then said: These two prayers are the ones which are most burdensome to hypocrites. If you knew what they contain (i.e. blessings), you would come to them, even though you had to crawl on your knees. The first row is like that of the angels, and if you knew the nature of its excellence, you would race to join it. A man's prayer said along with another is purer than his prayer said alone, and his prayer with two men is purer than his prayer with one, but if there are more it is more pleasing to Allah, the Almighty, the Majestic.

‘Uthman b. ‘Affan reported the Messenger of Allah (may peace be him) as saying; if anyone says the night prayer in congregation, he is like one who keeps vigil (in prayer) till midnight; and he who says both the night and dawn prayer in congregation is like one who keeps vigil (in prayer) the whole night.

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The further one is from the mosque , the greater will be one's reward.

Ubayy b. Ka’b said: There was a certain person, out of all people of Medina, who used to pray in the mosque. I do not know that any one of them lived at a farther distance than that man. Still he never missed the prayer in congregation in the mosque. I said: it would be better if you buy a donkey and ride it in heat and darkness. He said: I do not like that my house be by the side of the mosque. The discourse reached the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He said him about it. He said: I did it so that my walking to the mosque and return to my home when I return be recorded. He said: Allah has granted all this to you; Allah has granted all that you reckoned.

Narrated AbuUmamah: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: If anyone goes out from his house after performing ablution for saying the prescribed prayer in congregation (in the mosque), his reward will be like that of one who goes for hajj pilgrimage after wearing ihram (robe worn by the hajj pilgrims). And he who goes out to say the mid-morning (duha) prayer, and takes the trouble for this purpose, will take the reward like that of a person who performs umrah. And a prayer followed by a prayer with no worldly talk during the gap between them will be recorded in Illiyyun.

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Prayer said by a man in congregation is twenty five degrees more excellent than prayer said by him alone in his house or in the market. This is because when any of you performs ablution and does it perfectly, and goes out to the mosque having no intention except praying, and nothing moves him except prayer, then at every step which he takes his rank is elevated by one degree on account of this (walking), and one sin is remitted from him for this (walking), till he enters the mosque. When he enters the mosque, he will be reckoned as praying as long as he will be detained by the prayer. The angels keep on invoking blessing on any of you so long as he remains seated in the place he prayer, saying: O Allah, forgive him; O Allah, have mercy on him; O Allah, accept his repentance so long as he does not harm anyone, or breaks his ablution.

Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri: Prayer in congregation is equivalent to twenty-five prayers (offered alone). If he prays in a jungle, and performs its bowing and prostrations perfectly, it becomes equivalent to fifty prayers (in respect of reward).Abu Dawud said: 'Abd al-Walid b. Ziyad narrated in his version of this tradition: "Prayer said by a single person in a jungle is more excellent by multiplied degrees than prayer said in congregation."

Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Give good tidings to those who walk to the mosques in darkness for having a perfect light on the Day of Judgment.

Narrated Ka'b ibn Ujrah: AbuThumamah al-Hannat said that Ka'b ibn Ujrah met him while he was going to the mosque; one of the two (companions) met his companion (on his way to the mosque) And he met crossing the fingers of my both hands. He prohibited me to do so, and said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has said: If any of you performs ablution, and performs his ablution perfectly, and then goes out intending for the mosque, he should not cross the fingers of his hand because he is already in prayer.

Narrated A person from the Ansar: Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab said: An Ansari was breathing his last. He said: I narrate to you a tradition, and I narrate it with the intention of getting a reward from Allah. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If any one of you performs ablution and performs it very well, and goes out for prayer, he does not take his right step but Allah records a good work (or blessing) for him, and he does not take his left step but Allah remits one sin from him. Any one of you may reside near the mosque or far from it; if he comes to the mosque and prays in congregation, he will be forgiven (by Allah). If he comes to the mosque while the people had prayed in part, and the prayer remained in part, and he prays in congregation the part he joined, and completed the part he had missed, he will enjoy similarly (i.e. he will be forgiven). If he comes to the mosque when the people had finished prayer, he will enjoy the same.

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: whoever performs ablution, and performs his ablution perfectly, and then goes to the mosque and finds that the people had finished the prayer (in congregation), Allah will give him a reward like one who prayed in congregation and attended it; The reward of those who prayed in congregation will not be curtailed.

Narrated AbuHurayrah: Do not prevent the female servants of Allah from visiting the mosques of Allah, but they may go out (to the mosque) having no perfumed themselves.

Ibn ‘Umar reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying; Do not prevent the female servant your women from visiting the mosques of Allah.

Ibn ‘Umar reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying; Do not prevent your women from visiting the mosque; but their houses are better for them (for praying).

‘Abd Allah b. ‘Umar reported the prophet (ﷺ) as saying; Allow women to visit the mosque at night. A son of his (Bilal) said; I swear by Allah, we shall certainly not allow them because they will defraud. I swear by Allah, we shall not allow them. He (Ibn ‘Umar) abused him and became angry at him and said : I tell you that the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) said: Allow them; yet you say; we shall not allow them.

‘A’ishah (Allah be pleased with her), wife of the prophet (ﷺ), said ; if the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had seen what the women have invented, he would have prevented them from visiting the mosque (for praying), as the women of the children of the Israel were prevented. Yahya (the narrator) said; I asked ‘Umrah ; were the women of Israel prevented? She said: yes.

‘Abd Allah (b. Mas’ud) reported the prophet (ﷺ) as saying; it is more excellent for a woman to pray in her house than in her courtyard, and more excellent for her to pray in her private chamber than in her house.