Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

It wasnarrated that Anas bin Malik told that ‘Umar said: “I said: ‘OMessenger of Allah (ﷺ), why do you not take the Maqam of Ibrahim asa place of prayer?’ Then the following was revealed: ‘And takeyou(people) the Maqam of Ibrahim as a place of prayer.’” [2:125]

It wasnarrated that Bara’ said: “We prayed with the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) facing towards Baitul-Maqdis (Jerusalem) for eighteenmonths,then the Qiblah was changed to the Ka’bah two months after theProphet (ﷺ) entered Al-Madinah. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)prayed towards Baitul-Maqdis, he would often lift his face towardstheheavens, and Allah knew what was in the heart of His Prophet andhowhe longed to face the Ka’bah (during prayer). Jibril appeared(in thesky), and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) started watching himas he wasdescending between the heavens and the earth, waiting tosee what hewould bring. Then Allah revealed the words: ‘Verily, Wehave seen theturning of your face towards the heaven. Surely, Weshall turn you toa Qiblah that shall please you, so turn your facein the direction ofAl-Masjid Al-Haram (at Makkah). And wherever youpeople are, turn yourfaces (during prayer) in that direction.’[2:144] Then someone came tous and said: ‘The Qiblah has beenchanged to the Ka’bah.’ We hadperformed two Rak’ah facingtowards Jerusalem. And we were bowing. Sowe turned around, and wecontinued our prayer. The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: ‘O Jibril!What about our prayer facing towards Baitul-Maqdis?’ Then Allahrevealed the words: “And Allah would never makeyour faith to belost.” [2:143]

It wasnarrated that Abu Hurairah said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘What is between the east and the west is the Qiblah (prayerdirection).’”*

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “When anyone of you enters the mosque, let him not sit downuntilhe performs two Rak’ah.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Qatadah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Whenone ofyou enters the mosque, let him perform two Rak’ah before hesitsdown.”

It wasnarrated from Ma’dan bin Abu Talhah Al-Ya’muri that ‘Umar binKhattab stood up one Friday to deliver a sermon, or, he delivered asermon one Friday. He praised Allah, then he said: “O people, youeattwo plants that I find are nothing but obnoxious; this garlic andthisonion. At the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), if a foulodourwas detected from a man, I would see him seized by the arm andtakenout to Al-Baqi’. Whoever must eat them, let him cook them todeath.”

It wasnarrated that Abu Hurairah said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘Whoever eats from this plant; garlic, let him not annoy uswithit in this mosque of ours.’”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said:‘Whoever eats anything from this plant, let him not come to themosque.’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar said: “The Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) came to the mosque at Quba’ and performed prayer there.Somemen of the Ansar came and greeted him. I asked Suhaib, who waswithhim: ‘How did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) respond to them?’ Hesaid: ‘He gestured with his hand.’”

It wasnarrated that Jabir said: “The Prophet (ﷺ) sent me on anerrand,then I caught up with him while he was performing prayer, andIgreeted him. He gestured to me, then when he finished, he called meand said: ‘You greeted me before, but I was performing prayer.’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Abdullah said: “We would greet others duringtheprayer, and it was said to us: ‘During the prayer one ispreoccupied.’”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amir bin Rabi’ah that his fathersaid: “We were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on a journey, andthesky was overcast so it was difficult for us to determine theQiblah.So we performed prayer, and we marked the location.* Later,when thesun reappeared, we realized that we had prayed facing adirectionother than the Qiblah. We mentioned that to the Prophet(ﷺ), thenthe Words were revealed: ‘So wherever you turn there isthe Face ofAllah.’” [2:115]

It wasnarrated that Tariq bin ‘Abdullah Al-Muharibi said: “TheProphet(ﷺ) said: ‘When you perform prayer, do not spit in front ofyouor to your right, but spit to your left or beneath your feet.’”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)saw somesputum in the direction of the Qiblah of the mosque. Heturned to thepeople and said: “What is wrong with one of you that hestandsfacing Him (meaning his Lord) and spits in front of Him? Wouldanyonelike to be faced by someone who spits in his face? If anyone ofyouneeds to spit, then let him spit to his left, or let him do likethisin his garment.”

It wasnarrated from Hudhaifah that he saw Shabath bin Rib’i spittinginfront of him. He said: “O Shabath! Do not spit in front of you, forthe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to forbid that, and he said: ‘Whenaman stands up to perform prayer, Allah turns His Face towards himuntil he turns away or he commits an evil Hadath.’”*

It wasnarrated from Anas bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)spaton his garment while he was performing prayer, then he rubbed it.

It wasnarrated that Abu Hurairah said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said:“Whoever smoothes the pebbles, then he has engaged in Laghw.”*

It wasnarrated that Mu’aiqib said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said,concerning smoothing the pebbles during prayer: ‘If you must dothat, then do it only once.’”

It wasnarrated that Abu Dharr said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said:‘When anyone of you gets up to perform prayer, then indeed mercyisfacing him, so he should not smooth the pebbles.’”

Maimunahthe wife of the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)used to perform prayer on a Khumrah.”

It wasnarrated that Abu Sa’eed said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)performed prayer on a reed mat.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Amr bin Dinar said: “When Ibn ‘Abbas was inBasrah, he performed prayer on his rug, then he told his companionsthat the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to perform prayer on his rug.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abdur-Rahman said: “The Prophet(ﷺ) came to us and led us in prayer in the mosque of Banu‘Abdul-Ashhal, and I saw him putting his hands on his garment whenheprostrated.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Thabit binSamit,from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) performed prayer among Banu ‘Abdul-Ashhal, wearing a cloakinwhich he was wrapped and putting his hands on it to protect themfromthe cold of the pebbles.

It wasnarrated that Anas bin Malik said: “We used to perform prayerwiththe Prophet (ﷺ) when it was very hot. When one of us could notplace his forehead firmly on the ground, he would spread his garmentand prostrates on it.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “The Tasbih (saying Subhan-Allah) is for men and clapping is forwomen.”

It wasnarrated from Sahl bin Sa’d As-Sa’idi that the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) said: “The Tasbih is for men and clapping is for women.”

It wasnarrated that Nafi’ used to say: “Ibn ‘Umar said: ‘TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) granted a concession for the women to slap,and for the men to say the Tasbih.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn Abu Aws said: “My grandfather, Aws, used toperform prayer, and sometimes he would make a gesture while praying,and I would give him his sandals. He said: ‘I saw the Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) performing prayer in his sandals.’”

It wasnarrated from ‘Amr bin Shu’aib, from his father, that hisgrandfather said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performingprayer both barefoot, and while wearing sandals.”