Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)

Sulayman ibn Dawud al-Mahri narrated to us: Ibn Wahb narrated to us: Yahya ibn Ayyub informed me, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Harmalah, from Abu ʿAli al-Hamdani, who said: I heard ʿUqbah ibn ʿAmir say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘Whoever leads the people in prayer and gets its time right, the reward is his and theirs. Whoever falls short in any of that bears the responsibility, not they.’

Harun ibn ʿAbbad al-Azdi narrated to us: Marwan narrated to us: Talhah Umm Gh urab narrated to me, from ʿUqaylah—a woman of Banu Fazara, their freedwoman—from Salamah bint al-Hurr, sister of Kharashah ibn al-Hurr al-Fazari, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘One of the signs of the Hour is that the people of a mosque will pass responsibility among themselves, unable to find an imam to lead them in prayer.’

Abu al-Walid al-Tayalisi narrated to us: Shuʿbah narrated to us: Ismaʿil ibn Rajaʾ informed me: I heard Aws ibn Damʿaj relate, from Abu Masʿud al-Badri, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘The one most versed in the Book of Allah and most experienced in its recitation should lead the people. If they are equal in recitation, the earliest of them in migration should lead them; if they are equal in migration, then the oldest. No man should lead another in the latter’s home or sphere of authority, nor sit on his place of honor without his permission.’ Shuʿbah said: I asked Ismaʿil: ‘What is his place of honor?’ He replied: ‘His bedding.’

Ibn Muʿadh narrated to us: My father narrated to us: Shuʿbah narrated to us this report, which includes: ‘A man should not lead another in the latter’s sphere of authority.’ Abu Dawud said: Yahya al-Qattan likewise narrated from Shuʿbah: ‘the most experienced of them in recitation.’

Al-Hasan ibn ʿAli narrated to us: ʿAbd Allah ibn Numayr narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Ismaʿil ibn Rajaʾ, from Aws ibn Damʿaj al-Hadrami, who said: I heard Abu Masʿud relate this report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which says: ‘If they are equal in recitation, then the one most knowledgeable in the Sunnah; if they are equal in the Sunnah, then the earliest in migration.’ It does not say ‘the most experienced in recitation.’ Abu Dawud said: Hajjaj ibn Artah narrated from Ismaʿil: ‘Do not sit on anyone’s place of honor without his permission.’

Musa ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us: Hammad narrated to us: Ayyub informed us, from ʿAmr ibn Salamah, who said: We lived in a place where people passed by us when they went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When they returned, they would tell us that the Messenger of Allah had said such-and-such. I was a boy with a strong memory and memorized much Qur’an from that. My father went as a delegate to the Messenger of Allah with a group of his people, and he taught them prayer. He said: ‘The one who has memorized the most Qur’an should lead you.’ I had memorized more than they had, so they put me in front of them and I led them in prayer. I had a small yellow mantle; when I prostrated, it slipped away from me. A woman among the women said: ‘Cover the nakedness of your reciter for us!’ So they bought me an Omani shirt. I was never happier about anything after Islam than I was about it. I led them in prayer when I was seven or eight years old.

Al-Nufayli narrated to us: Zuhayr narrated to us: ʿAsim al-Ahwal narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Salamah, with this report. He said: ‘I used to lead them in prayer wearing a patched mantle with a slit in it. When I prostrated, my buttocks showed.’

Qutaybah narrated to us: Wakiʿ narrated to us, from Misʿar ibn Habib al-Jarmi, who said: ʿAmr ibn Salamah narrated to us, from his father, that they went as a delegation to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When they were about to depart, they said: ‘Messenger of Allah, who will lead us in prayer?’ He replied: ‘The one among you who has gathered—or memorized—the most Qur’an.’ No one among the people had gathered as much as I had, so they put me forward while I was a boy, wearing a mantle. Whenever I attended a gathering of Jarm, I would lead them in prayer, and I have led their funeral prayers to this day. Abu Dawud said: Yazid ibn Harun narrated this from Misʿar ibn Habib al-Jarmi, from ʿAmr ibn Salamah, who said: ‘When my people went as a delegation to the Prophet,’ without saying ‘from his father.’

Al-Qaʿnabi narrated to us: Anas—meaning Ibn ʿIyad—narrated to us. And al-Haytham ibn Khalid al-Juhani narrated to us—the meaning is the same. They said: Ibn Numayr narrated to us, from ʿUbayd Allah, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: When the earliest emigrants arrived, they settled at al-ʿUsbah before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived. Salim, the freedman of Abu Hudhayfah, led them in prayer, for he had memorized the most Qur’an among them. Al-Haytham added: ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab and Abu Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Asad were among them.

Musaddad narrated to us: Ismaʿil narrated to us. And Musaddad narrated to us: Maslamah ibn Muhammad narrated to us—the meaning is the same—from Khalid, from Abu Qilabah, from Malik ibn al-Huwayrith, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him or to a companion of his: ‘When the time for prayer comes, let the two of you call the adhan, then establish the iqamah, and let the older of you lead.’ In Maslamah’s report, he said: ‘At that time we were close in knowledge.’ In Ismaʿil’s report, Khalid said: I asked Abu Qilabah: ‘What about the Qur’an?’ He replied: ‘The two of them were close in their knowledge of it.’

ʿUthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Husayn ibn ʿIsa al-Hanafi narrated to us: al-Hakam ibn Aban narrated to us, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Let the best of you call the adhan for you, and let those most versed in the Qur’an lead you in prayer.’

ʿUthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Wakiʿ ibn al-Jarrah narrated to us: al-Walid ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Jumayʿ said: My grandmother and ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Khallad al-Ansari narrated to me, from Umm Waraqah bint Nawfal, that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to Badr, she said: ‘Messenger of Allah, let me go with you on the campaign so I can tend your sick and perhaps Allah will grant me martyrdom.’ He replied: ‘Stay in your home, for Allah Most High will grant you martyrdom.’ She came to be called the Martyr. She had learned the Qur’an and asked the Prophet’s permission to have a caller to prayer in her home; he gave her permission. She had arranged for a male and a female slave to be freed after her death. One night they came to her, smothered her with a blanket until she died, then fled. In the morning ʿUmar stood among the people and said: ‘Whoever knows anything about these two, or has seen them, let him bring them here.’ He ordered that they be crucified, and they were the first two crucified in Medina.

Al-Hasan ibn Hammad al-Hadrami narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Fudayl narrated to us, from al-Walid ibn Jumayʿ, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Khallad, from Umm Waraqah bint ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Harith, with this report; the first version is more complete. He added: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to visit her at her home, appointed a caller to prayer to call for her, and instructed her to lead the people of her household in prayer. ʿAbd al-Rahman said: I saw her caller to prayer; he was an elderly man.

Al-Qaʿnabi narrated to us: ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn Ghanim narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad, from ʿImran ibn ʿAbd al-Maʿafiri, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: ‘There are three whose prayer Allah does not accept: a man who leads people when they dislike him; a man who comes to the prayer dibaran’—that is, after he has missed it—‘and a man who enslaves a person whom he had freed.’

Ahmad ibn Salih narrated to us: Ibn Wahb narrated to us: Muʿawiyah ibn Salih narrated to me, from al-ʿAlaʾ ibn al-Harith, from Makhul, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘The prescribed prayer is an obligation behind every Muslim, righteous or wicked, even if he commits major sins.’

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman al-ʿAnbari Abu ʿAbd Allah narrated to us: Ibn Mahdi narrated to us: ʿImran al-Qattan narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Anas, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed Ibn Umm Maktum to lead the people in prayer while he was blind.

Muslim ibn Ibrahim narrated to us: Aban narrated to us, from Budayl, who narrated to me: Abu ʿAtiyyah, a freedman of ours, said: Malik ibn al-Huwayrith used to come to this prayer place of ours. When the prayer was established, we said to him: ‘Go forward and lead us in prayer.’ He replied: ‘Put one of your own men forward to lead you, and I will tell you why I am not leading you: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say, “Whoever visits a people should not lead them in prayer; rather, a man from among them should lead them.”’

Ahmad ibn Sinan and Ahmad ibn al-Furat Abu Masʿud al-Razi narrated to us—the meaning is the same. They said: Yaʿla narrated to us: al-Aʿmash narrated to us, from Ibrahim, from Hammam, who said: Hudhayfah led the people in prayer in al-Madaʾin while standing on a raised platform. Abu Masʿud took hold of his shirt and tugged him down. When Hudhayfah had finished his prayer, he said: ‘Did you not know that they used to forbid that?’ He replied: ‘Yes, I remembered when you pulled me.’

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim narrated to us: Hajjaj narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj, who informed me: Abu Khalid narrated to me, from ʿAdi ibn Thabit al-Ansari, who said: A man narrated to me that he was with ʿAmmar ibn Yasir in al-Madaʾin. The prayer was established, and ʿAmmar stepped forward and stood on a platform to pray, while the people were below him. Hudhayfah came forward, took him by the hands, and ʿAmmar followed him until Hudhayfah brought him down. When ʿAmmar finished praying, Hudhayfah said: ‘Did you not hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say, “When a man leads people in prayer, he should not stand in a place higher than where they stand,” or words to that effect?’ ʿAmmar replied: ‘That is why I followed you when you took me by the hands.’

ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn Maysarah narrated to us: Yahya ibn Saʿid narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAjlan, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn Miqsam, from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah, that Muʿadh ibn Jabal used to pray the night prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then go to his people and lead them in that same prayer.