Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “I missed the Prophet (ﷺ) onenight, so I went out looking for him. I found him at Al-Baqi’,raisinghis head towards the sky. He said: ‘O ‘Aishah, were youafraid thatAllah and His Messenger would wrong you?’” She said:“I said: ‘No, itis not that, but I thought that you had gone toone of your otherwives.’ He said: ‘Allah descends on the nightof the middle of Sha’banto the lowest heaven, and He forgives morethan the numbers of hairson the sheep of Banu Kalb.’”

It wasnarrated from Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)said: “Allah looks down on the night of the middle of Sha’banandforgives all His creation, apart from the idolater and theMushahin.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfa that the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) prayed two Rak’ah on the day when he was given the gladtidings of the head (death) of Abu Jahl.

It wasnarrated from Anas bin Malik that the Prophet (ﷺ) was givengladtidings that a need of his had been met, and he fell downprostrate.

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Ka’b bin Malik that his fathersaid that when Allah accepted his repentance, he fell down prostrate.

It wasnarrated from Abu Bakrah that when the Prophet (ﷺ) heardnews thatmade him happy, or for which one should be happy, he wouldfall downprostrate in gratitude to Allah, the Blessed and Exalted.

It wasnarrated that ‘Ali bin Abu Talib said: “If I heard a Hadithfromthe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), Allah benefitted me with it as muchasHe willed, and if I heard it from anyone else, I would ask him toswear me an oath, then if he swore an oath I would believe him. AbuBakr told me and Abu Bakr spoke the truth that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: ‘There is no man who commits a sin then he performsablution and does it well, then he prays two Rak’ah,’ (one of thenarrators) Mis’ar said: ‘then performs prayer and seeks theforgiveness of Allah, but Allah will forgive him.’

It wasnarrated from ‘Asim bin Sufyan Thaqafi that they went on thecampaign of Salasil, but no battle took place; they only took uptheirpositions. Then they came back to Mu’awiyah, and Abu Ayyuband ‘Uqbahbin ‘Amir were with him. ‘Asim said: “O Abu Ayyub,we have missed outon Jihad this year, and we were told that whoeverprays in the fourmosques will be forgiven his sins.” He said: “Oson of my brother,shall I not tell you of something easier thanthat? I heard theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Whoever performsablution as he hasbeen commanded, and prays as he has beencommanded, will be forgivenhis previous (bad) deeds.’” He said:“(Did he not say it) like that, O‘Uqbah?” He said: “Yes.”

‘Uthmansaid: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Do youthinkthat if there was a river in the courtyard of anyone of you, andhebathed in it five times each day, would there be any dirt left onhim?’ They said: ‘(There would be) nothing.’ He said: ‘Prayertakesaway sins like water takes away dirt.’”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud that a man did somethingwitha woman that was less than adultery; I do not know how far itwent,but it was less than adultery. He went to the Prophet (ﷺ) andtoldhim about that. Then Allah revealed the words: “And perform theprayer, at the two ends of the day and in some hours of the night.Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds. That is a reminder forthe mindful.” [11:114] He said: “O Messenger of Allah, is thisonlyfor me?” He said: “It is for everyone who acts upon it.”

It wasnarrated that Anas bin Malik said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘Allah enjoined fifty prayers upon my nation, and I came backwith that until I came to Musa. Musa said: ‘What has your Lordenjoined upon your nation?’ I said: ‘He has enjoined fiftyprayers on me.’ He said: ‘Go back to your Lord, for your nationwill not be able to do that.’ So I went back to my Lord, and Hereduced it by half. I went back to Musa and told him, and he said:‘Go back to your Lord, for your nation will not be able to dothat.’ So I went back to my Lord, and He said: ‘They are five andthey are fifty; My Word does not change.’ So I went back to Musaand he said: ‘Go back to your Lord.’ I said: ‘I feel shy beforemy Lord.’”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “Your Prophet (ﷺ) wasenjoinedto do fifty prayers but he returned to your Lord to make(i.e.,reduce) them to five prayers.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Ubadah bin Samit said: “I heard the MessengerofAllah (ﷺ) say: ‘Five prayers that Allah has enjoined upon Hisslaves, so whoever does them, and does not omit anything out ofnegligence, on the Day of Resurrection Allah will make a covenantwithhim that He will admit him to Paradise. But whoever does thembutomits something from them out of negligence, will not have such acovenant with Allah; if He wills He will punish him, and if He wills,He will forgive him.’”

It wasnarrated from Sharik bin ‘Abdullah bin Abu Namir that he heardAnasbin Malik say: “While we were sitting in the mosque, a manenteredriding a camel; he made it kneel in the mosque, then hehobbled itand said to them: ‘Which of you is Muhammad?’ The MessengerofAllah (ﷺ) was reclining among them, so they said: ‘Thisfair-skinned man who is reclining.’ The man said to him: ‘O sonof ‘Abdul-Muttalib!’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘I am listening toyou.’ The mansaid: O Muhammad! I am asking you and will be sternin asking, so donot bear any ill-feelings towards me.’ He said:‘Ask whatever youthink.’ The man said: ‘I adjure you by yourLord and the Lord of thosewho came before you, has Allah sent you toall of mankind?’ TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘By Allah,yes.; He said: ‘I adjure youby Allah, has Allah commanded you topray the five prayers each dayand night?’ The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: ‘By Allah, yes.’ Hesaid: ‘I adjure you by Allah,has Allah commanded you to fast thismonth of each year?’ TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘By Allah,yes.’ He said: ‘Iadjure you by Allah, has Allah commanded you to takethis charityfrom our rich and distribute it among our poor?’ TheMessenger ofAllah (ﷺ) said: ‘By Allah, yes.’ The man said: ‘Ibelieve inwhat you have brought, and I am the envoy of my people whoare behindme. I am Dimam bin Tha’labah, the brother of Banu Sa’d binBakr.’”

Sa’eedbin Musayyab said that Abu Qatadah bin Rib’i told him that theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Allah said: ‘I have enjoined onyournation five prayers, and I have made a covenant with Myself thatwhoever maintains them, I will admit them to Paradise, and whoeverdoes not maintain them, has no such covenant with Me.’”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “One prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a thousandprayers anywhere else, except The Sacred Mosque (Al-MasjidAl-Haram).”

It wasnarrated from Ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Oneprayerin this mosque of mine is better than one thousand prayers inanyother mosque except the Sacred Mosque.”

It wasnarrated from Jabir that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Oneprayer in my mosque is better than one thousand prayerselsewhere,except the Sacred Mosque, and one prayer in the SacredMosque isbetter than one hundred thousand prayers elsewhere.”

It wasnarrated that Maimunah the freed (female) slave of the Prophet(ﷺ)said: I said: “O Messenger of Allah, tell us about Baitil-Maqdis.”He said: “It is the land of the Resurrection and theGathering. Goand pray there, for one prayer there is like onethousand prayerselsewhere.” I said: “What if I cannot travel and gothere?” Hesaid: “Then send a gift of oil to light its lamps, forwhoever doesthat is like one who goes there.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “When Sulaiman bin Dawud finished building Baitil-Maqdis, he askedAllah for three things: judgment that was in harmony with Hisjudgment, a dominion that no one after him would have, and that nooneshould come to this mosque, intending only to pray there, but hewouldemerge free of sin as the day his mother bore him.” TheProphet (ﷺ)said: “Two prayers were granted, and I hope that thethird was alsogranted.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “No one should prepare a mount (travel) to visit any mosqueexceptthree: the Sacred Mosque, this mosque of mine, and AqsaMosque.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Sa’eed and ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin ‘As thatthe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Do not prepare a mount (travel)tovisit any mosque except three: the Sacred Mosque, Aqsa Mosque, andthis mosque of mine.”

Abul-Abrad, the freed slave of Banu Khatmah, said that he heard Usaidbin Zuhair Ansari who was one of the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ)narrating that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “One prayer in the Quba’Mosqueis like ‘Umrah.”

(Sahl)bin Hunaif said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoeverpurifies himself in his house, then comes to the Quba’ Mosque andoffers one prayer therein, will have a reward like that for ‘Umrah.”

It wasnarrated that Anas bin Malik said: “The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)said: ‘A man’s prayer in his house is equal (in reward) to oneprayer; his prayer in the mosque of the tribes is equal totwenty-fiveprayers; his prayer in the mosque in which Friday prayeris offered isequal to five-hundred prayers; his prayer in AqsaMosque is equal tofifty thousand prayers; his prayer in my mosque isequal to fiftythousand prayers; and his prayer in the Sacred Mosqueis equal to onehundred thousand prayers.”

It wasnarrated from Tufail bin Ubayy bin Ka’b that his father said: “TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray facing the trunk of a date-palmtree when the mosque was still a hut, and he used to deliver thesermon leaning on that trunk. A man from among his Companions said:‘Would you like us to make you something upon which you can standonFridays so that the people will be able to see you and hear yoursermon?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ So he made three steps for him, as apulpit.When they put the pulpit in place, they put it in the placewhere itstands now. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wanted tostand on thepulpit, he passed by the tree trunk from which he usedto deliver thesermon, and when he went beyond the trunk, it moanedand split andcracked. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came down when heheard thevoice of the trunk, and rubbed it with his hand until itfell silent.Then he went back to the pulpit and when he prayed, heprayed facingit. When the mosque was knocked down (for renovation)and (thepillars, etc.) were changed, Ubayy bin Ka’b took thattrunk and keptit in his house until it became very old and thetermites consumed itand it became grains of dust.”

It wasnarrated from Anas that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to deliver thesermonleaning on a tree trunk. When he started to use the pulpit, hewentto the pulpit, and the trunk made a sorrowful souond. So he cametoit and embraced it, and it calmed down. He said: “If I had notembraced it, it would have continued to grieve until the Day ofResurrection.”

It wasnarrated that Abu Hazim said: “The people differed concerningthepulpit of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and what it was made of. Sothey came to Sahl bin Sa’d and asked him. He said: ‘There is nooneleft who knows more about that than I. It is made of tamarisk (atypeof tree) from Ghabah. It was made by so-and-so, the freed slaveof so-and-so (a woman), (who was) a carpenter. He brought it and he(theProphet (ﷺ)) stood on it when it was put in position. He facedtheQiblah and the people stood behind him. He recited Qur’an, thenbowedand raised his head, then he moved backwards until heprostrated onthe ground, then he went back to the pulpit and recitedQur’an, thenbowed and raised his head, then he moved backwardsuntil he prostratedon the ground.”