Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

It wasnarrated that ‘Abdullah said: “We saw the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) performing prayer wearing sandals and leather slippers.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “I wascommanded not to tuck up my hair or my garment.”*

It wasnarrated that ‘Abdullah said: “We were ordered to not (tuck upour) hair (nor garment) and not to repeat ablution for what westeppedon.”

Mukhawwal said: “I heard Abu Sa’d, a man from the people ofMadinah,say: ‘I saw Abu Rafi’, the freed slave of the Messengerof Allah(ﷺ), when he saw Hasan bin ‘Ali performing prayer, withhis hairbraided. He undid it, or told him not to do that, and said:“TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade a man from performing prayerwith hishair braided.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said:‘Do not lift your gave to the heavens lest your sight besnatchedaway,” meaning during prayer.

It wasnarrated that Anas bin Malik said: “The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)led his Companions in prayer one day. When he had finishedprayer heturned to face the people and said: ‘What is wrong with somepeoplethat they lift their gaze to the heavens?’ He spoke severelyconcerning that: ‘They should certainly abstain from that or Allahwill snatch away their sight.’”

It wasnarrated from Jabir bin Samurah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Letthose who lift their gaze to the heavens desist, or their sightwillnot come back.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “A woman used to perform prayerbehind the Prophet (ﷺ), and she was one of the most beautiful ofpeople. Some of the people used to go into the first row so that theywould not see her, and some of them used to lag behind so that theywould be in the last row, and when they bowed, they would do likethisso that they could see her from beneath their armpits. ThenAllahrevealed: “And indeed, We know the first generations of youwho hadpassed away, and indeed, We know the present generations ofyou(mankind), and also those who will some afterwards.” [15:24]concerning her matter.

It wasnarrated that Abu Hurairah said: “A man came to the Prophet(ﷺ)and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! One of us performs prayer in asingle garment.’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Does everyone have twogarments?’”

AbuSa’eed Al-Khudri narrated that he entered upon the Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) when he was performing prayer in a single garment,wrapping himself in it.

It wasnarrated that ‘Umar bin Abu Salamah said: “I saw the MessengerofAllah (ﷺ) performing prayer in a single garment, wrapping himselfin it and throwing the ends over his shoulders.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Kaisan that his father said: “Isaw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performing prayer at Bi’r ‘Ulya,in a garment.”

IbnKaisan narrated that his father said: “I saw the Prophet (ﷺ)performing the Zuhr and the ‘Asr in a single garment, wrapping itaround his chest.”

It wasnarrated that Abu Hurairah said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘When a son of Adam recites a Sajdah* and prostrates, Satanwithdraws weeping, saying: ‘Woe is me! The son of Adam wascommandedto prostrate and he prostrated, and Paradise will be his; Iwascommanded to prostrate and I refused, so I am doomed to Hell.’”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “I was with the Prophet (ﷺ),anda man came to him and said: ‘Last night while I was sleeping, Isawthat I was praying towards the base of a tree. I recited (an Ayahof)prostration and prostrated, and the tree prostrated when I did,and Iheard it saying: Allahummah-tut anni biha wizran, waktub li bihaajran, waj’al-ha li ‘indaka dhukhran (O Allah, reduce my burdenof sinthereby, reward me for it and store it for me with You).’Ibn ‘Abbassaid: “I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) recite (an Ayah of)prostration andthen prostrate, and I heard him saying in hisprostration somethinglike that which the man had told him the treesaid.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Ali that whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) prostratedhewould say: “Allahumma laka sajadtu, wa bika amantu, wa lakaaslamtu, Anta rabbi, sajada wajhi lilladhi shaqqa sam’ahu wabasarahu,tabarak Allah ahsanul-khaliqin (O Allah, to You I haveprostrated, andin You I have believed, and to You I have submitted.You are my Lord;my face has prostrated to the One Who gave ithearing and sight.Blessed is Allah the best of Creators).”*

It wasnarrated that Umm Darda’ said: “Abu Darda’ told me that he dideleven prostrations* with the Prophet (ﷺ), including An-Najm.”

It wasnarrated that Abu Darda’ said: “I performed elevenprostrationswith the Prophet (ﷺ) of which there were none in theMufassal.Al-A’raf, Ar-Ra’d, An-Nahl, Bani Isra’il, Maryam, Al-Hajj,theprostration in Al-Furqan, Surat An-Naml (mentioning) Sulaiman,As-Sajdah, Sad, and the Ha-Mim Surah.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Amr bin ‘As that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)taught him fifteen prostrations in the Qur’an, including three intheMufassal and two in Al-Hajj.

It wasnarrated that Abu Hurairah said: “We prostrated with theMessengerof Allah (ﷺ) in “When the heaven is split asunder” [84:1]and“Read! In the Name of your Lord.” [96:1]

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (ﷺ) prostratedin “Whenthe heaven is split asunder.” [84: 1]

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that a man entered the mosque andperformed prayer, and the Prophet (ﷺ) was in a corner of themosque.The man came and greeted him, and he said: “And also uponyou. Go backand repeat your prayer, for you have not prayed.” Sohe went back andrepeated his prayer, then he came and greeted theProphet (ﷺ). Hesaid: “And also upon you. Go back and repeat yourprayer, for you havenot prayed.” On the third occasion, the mansaid: “Teach me, OMessenger of Allah!” He said: “When youstand up to offer the prayer,perform ablution properly, then standto face the prayer direction andsay Allahu Akbar. Then recitewhatever you can of Qur’an, and then bowuntil you can feel at easebowing. Then stand up until you feel atease standing, then prostrateuntil you feel at ease prostrating. Thenraise your head until youare sitting up straight. Do that throughoutyour prayer.”

Muhammadbin ‘Amr bin ‘Ata’ said: ‘While he was among ten of theCompanions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) including Abu Qatadah: “Iheard Abu Humaid As-Sa’idi say: ‘I am the most knowledgeable ofyouconcerning the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).’ Theysaid:‘Why? By Allah, you did not follow him more than we did, andyou didnot accompany him for longer.’ He said: ‘Yes I am.’They said: ‘Showus.’ He said: ‘When the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) stood up for prayer,he would say the Takbir, then he wouldraise his hands parallel to hisshoulders, and every part of his bodywould settle in place. Then hewould recite, then he would raise hishands parallel to his shouldersand bow, placing his palms on hisknees and supporting his weight onthem. He neither lowered his head,nor raised it up, it was evenlybalanced (between either extreme).Then he would say: “Sami’ Allahuliman hamidah (Allah hears thosewho praise Him); and he would raisehis hands parallel with hisshoulders, until every bone returned toits place. Then he wouldprostrate himself on the ground, keeping hisarms away from hissides. Then he would raise his head and tuck hisleft foot under himand sit on it, and he would spread his toes whenhe prostrated.* Thenhe would prostrate, then say the Takbir and siton his left foot,until every bone returned to its place. Then hewould stand up and dothe same in the next Rak’ah. Then when he stoodup after twoRak’ah, he would raise his hands level with his shouldersas he didat the beginning of the prayer. Then he would offer the restof hisprayer in like manner until, when he did the prostration aftertheTaslim comes, he would push one of his feet back and sit and hisweight on his left side, Mutawarrikan.’** They said: ‘You havespokenthe truth; this is how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used toperformthe prayer.’”***

It wasnarrated that ‘Amrah said: “I asked ‘Aishah: ‘How did theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) perform prayer?’ She said: ‘When theProphet(ﷺ) performed ablution, he would put his hand in the vesseland sayBismillah, and he would perform ablution properly. Then hewould standand face the Qiblah. He would say the Takbir raising hishandsparallel to his shoulders. Then he would bow, putting his handson hisknees and keeping his arms away from his sides. Then he wouldraisehis head and straighten his back, and he would stand a littlelongerthan your standing. Then he would prostrate, pointing hishandstowards the Qiblah, keeping his arms away (from his sides) asmuch aspossible, according to what I have seen. Then he would raisehis headand sit on his left foot with his right foot held upright,and hedisliked leaning towards his left side.’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Umar said: “The prayer while traveling is twoRak’ah, and Friday is two Rak’ah, and ‘Eid is two Rak’ah.They arecomplete and are not shortened, as told by Muhammad (ﷺ).”

‘Umarsaid: “The prayer when traveling is two Rak’ah, and Friday istwoRak’ah, and Al-Fitr and Al-Adha are two Rak’ah, complete, notshortened, as told by Muhammad (ﷺ).”

It wasnarrated that Ya’la bin Umayyah said: “I asked ‘Umar binKhattab: ‘Allah says: “And when you travel in the land, there isnosin on you if you shorten the prayer if you fear that thedisbelieversmay put you in trial (attack you), verily, thedisbelievers are everto you open enemies,” [4:101] but now thereis security and people aresafe.’ He said: ‘I found it strangejust as you do, so I asked theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) about that,and he said: “It is charity thatAllah has bestowed upon you, soaccept His charity.”

It wasnarrated from Umayyah bin ‘Abdullah bin Khalid that he said to‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar: “We find (mention of) the prayer of theresidentand the prayer in a state of fear in the Qur’an, but we donot findany mention of the prayer of the traveler. ‘Abdullah saidto him:“Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) to us, and we did not knowanything, ratherwe do what we saw Muhammad (ﷺ) doing.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “When the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)went out from this city (Al-Madinah) he did not perform morethan twoRak’ah for prayer until he returned.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “Allah enjoined the prayer uponthe tongue of your Prophet (ﷺ): Four Rak’ah while a resident andtwoRak’ah when traveling.”