Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

‘Abbasbin Sahl As-Sa’di said: “Abu Humaid, Abu Usaid As-Sa’di, Sahlbin Sa’d, and Muhammad bin Maslamah came together and spoke abouttheprayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Abu Humaid said: ‘I amthemost knowledgeable of you about the prayer of the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood up and said AllahuAkbar,and raised his hands, then he raised them when he said AllahuAkbarfor Ruku’, then he stood up and raised his hands, and stoodstraightuntil every bone had returned to its place.’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Ali bin Abu Talib said: “When the Prophet (ﷺ)stood up to offer a prescribed prayer, he said Allahu Akbar andraisedhis hands until they were parallel to his shoulders. When hewanted tobow he did likewise; when he raised his head from bowing hedidlikewise; and when he stood up after the two prostrations he didlikewise.”*

It wasnarrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)used toraise his hands at every Takbir (saying Allahu Akbar).

It wasnarrated from Anas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used toraisehis hands when he entered prayer, and when he bowed in Ruku’.”

It wasnarrated that Wa’il bin Hujr said: “I said: ‘I will look attheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) and see how he performs the prayer.’ Hestood up and faced the Qiblah, and raised his hands until they wereparallel to his ears. When he bowed, he raised them likewise, andwhenhe raised his head from Ruku’, he raised them likewise.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Zubair that Jabir bin ‘Abdullah would raisehishands when he began the prayer, and when he bowed, and when heraised(his head) from Ruku’ he would do likewise, and he said: “I sawthe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) doing that.” (One of the narrators)said:“Ibrahim bin Tahman (one of the narrators) raised his handsto hisears.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)bowed, he neither raised his head nor lowered it, rather (he didsomething) between that.”

It wasnarrated that Abu Mas’ud said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘No prayer is acceptable in which a man does not settle hisspine when bowing and when prostrating.’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Ali bin Shaiban who was part of a delegation(to theProphet (ﷺ)) said: “We set out until we came to theMessenger ofAllah (ﷺ), and we gave him our oath of allegiance andperformedprayer behind him. He glanced out of the corner of his eyeat a manwho was not settling his spine when he bowed and prostrated.When theProphet (ﷺ) finished the prayer, he said: ‘O Muslims, thereis noprayer for the one who does not settle his spine when bowing andprostrating.’”

It wasnarrated that Rashid said: “I heard Wabisah bin Ma’bad saying:‘Isaw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performing prayer, and when hebowedhe made his back so straight that if water were poured on it, itwould have stayed there.’”

It wasnarrated that Mus’ab bin Sa’d said: “I bowed (in prayer)besidemy father, and I put my hands between my knees. He struck myhand andsaid: ‘We used to do that, then we were commanded to put themonthe knees.’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) usedtobow with his hands on his knees and his upper arms held away fromhissides.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that when the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)said: “Sami’ Allahu liman hamidah (Allah hears those who praiseHim),” he said: “Rabbana wa lakal-hamd (O our Lord, to You is thepraise).”

It wasnarrated from Anas bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “When the Imam says: ‘Sami’ Allahu liman hamidah (Allah hearsthose who praise Him),’ say: ‘Rabbana wa lakal-hamd (O our Lord,toYou is the praise).’”

It wasnarrated from Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri that he heard the MessengerofAllah (ﷺ) say: “When the Imam says: ‘Sami’ Allahu limanhamidah(Allah hears those who praise Him),’ say: ‘Allahumma,Rabbana walakal-hamd (O Allah! O our Lord! To You is the praise).’”

It wasnarrated that Ibn Abu Awfa said: “When the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)raised his head from Ruku’, he said: ‘Sami’ Allahu limanhamidah, Allahumma, Rabbana lakal-hamd, mil’ as-samawati wa mil’al-ard wa mil’ ma shi’ta min shay’in ba’d (Allah hears thosewho praiseHim. O Allah! O our Lord, to You is the praise as much asfills theheavens, as much as fills the earth and as much as You willafterthat).’”

It wasnarrated that Abu ‘Umar said: “I heard Abu Juhaifah say: Goodfortune was mentioned in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)while he was performing prayer. A man said: ‘so-and-so’s fortuneis inhorses.’ Another man said: ‘So-and-so’s fortune is incamels.’ Anotherman said: ‘So-and-so’s fortune is in sheep.’Another man said: ‘So-and-so’s fortune is in slaves.’ While theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) wasfinishing his prayer, he raised his headat the end of the last Rak’ahand said: ‘Allahumma Rabbanalakal-hamd mil’ as-samawati wa mil’ al-ard wa mil’ ma shi’tamin shai’in ba’du. Allahumma la mani’ limaa’taita wa lamu’ti lima mana’ta, wa la yanfa’u dhal-jaddi minkal-jadd(Allahhears those who praise Him. O Allah! O our Lord! To You is thepraiseas much as fills the heavens, as much as fills the earth and asmuchas You will after that. O Allah, there is none who can withholdwhatYou give, and none who can give what You withhold, and the goodfortune of any fortunate person is to no avail against You).’ TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) elongated the word Jadd (fortune) so thatthey would know that it was not as they had said.”

It wasnarrated from Maimunah that when the Prophet (ﷺ) prostrated,hewould hold his forearms away from his sides, such that if a lambwanted to pass under his arms, it would be able to do so.

It wasnarrated from (‘Ubaidullah bin ‘Abdullah) bin Aqram Al-Khuza’ithat his father said: “I was with my father on the plain inNamirah,*when some riders passed us and made their camels kneel downat theside of the road. My father said to me: ‘Stay with yourlambs until Igo to those people and see what they want.’ He said:Then he (myfather) went out and I came, (i.e., I came near,) thenthere was theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ), and the time for prayer cameso I prayedwith them, and I was looking at the whiteness of thearmpits of theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) every time he prostrated.”

It wasnarrated that Wa’il bin Hujr said: “I saw the Prophet (ﷺ)whenhe prostrated and put his knees on the ground before his hands,andwhen he stood up after prostrating, he took his hands off thegroundbefore his knees.”

It wasnarrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “I havebeen commanded to prostrate on seven bones.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said:“I have been commanded to prostrate on seven, but not to tuck upmyhair or my garment.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abbas bin ‘Abdul-Muttalib that he heard theProphet (ﷺ) say: “When a person prostrates, seven parts of hisbodyprostrate with him: His face, his two hands, his two knees, andhistwo feet.”

Ahmar,the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), narrated to us: “Weused to feel sorry for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) because hetookpains to keep his arms away from his sides when he prostrated.”

‘Uqbahbin ‘Amir Al-Juhani said: “When the following was revealed:‘Soglorify the Name of your Lord, the Most Great’,[69:52] theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to us: ‘Say this in your Ruku’.’Andwhen the following was revealed: ‘Glorify the Name of yourLord, theMost High.’[87:1] the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said tous: ‘Say thisin your prostrations.’”

It wasnarrated from Hudhaifah bin Al-Yaman that he heard theMessenger ofAllah (ﷺ) say when he bowed: “Subhana Rabbiyal-‘Azim(Glory isto my Lord, the Most Great)” three times, and when heprostrated hesaid: “Subhana Rabbiyal-A’la (Glory is to my Lord theMost High)”three times.

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)oftenused to say when bowing and prostrating: ‘Subhanak Allahumma wabihamdika, Allahummaghfir li (Glory if to You, O Allah, and praise; OAllah forgive me),’ following the command given by theQur’an.”[SuratAn-Nasr (110)]

It wasnarrated that Ibn Mas’ud said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘When anyone of you bows, let him say in his bowing: “SubhanaRabbiyal-‘Azim (Glory is to my Lord, the Most Great)” threetimes; ifhe does that his bowing will be complete. And when anyoneof youprostrates, let him say in his prostration, ‘SubhanaRabbiyal-A’la(Glory if to my Lord, the Most High)” three times;if he does that,his prostration will be complete, and that is theminimum.’”

It wasnarrated that Jabir said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:“Whenanyone of you prostrates let him be balanced in prostration, andnotspread his arms as a dog does.”