Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib reported that when the Messenger of Allah stood for prayer, he said the takbīr and then said: ‘I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth, as one devoted to truth, submitting, and I am not among the polytheists. My prayer, my sacrifice, my life, and my death belong to Allah, Lord of the worlds; He has no partner. That is what I have been commanded, and I am the first of those who submit. O Allah, You are the King; there is no god for me but You. You are my Lord and I am Your servant. I have wronged myself and confessed my sin, so forgive me all my sins, for none forgives sins except You. Guide me to the best character, for none guides to the best of it except You, and turn me away from its evil, for none turns away its evil except You. Here I am, answering Your call; all good is in Your hands, and evil is not attributed to You. I am by You and to You. Blessed and Exalted are You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.’ When he bowed, he said: ‘O Allah, to You I bow; in You I believe, and to You I submit. My hearing, sight, brain, bones, and sinews humble themselves before You.’ When he rose, he said: ‘Allah hears whoever praises Him. Our Lord, praise belongs to You, filling the heavens and the earth, all that is between them, and whatever else You will.’ When he prostrated, he said: ‘O Allah, to You I prostrate; in You I believe, and to You I submit. My face prostrates to the One who created it, fashioned it, perfected its form, and gave it hearing and sight. Blessed is Allah, the best of creators.’ When he said the salām at the end of the prayer, he said: ‘O Allah, forgive me what I have done before and what I will do later, what I have concealed and what I have made public, my excesses, and what You know better than I. You are the One who brings forward and puts back. There is no god but You.’

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib reported from the Messenger of Allah: When he stood for an obligatory prayer, he said the takbīr and raised his hands level with his shoulders. He did the same when he finished reciting and was about to bow, and when he rose from bowing. He did not raise his hands at any point in the prayer while seated. When he rose from the two prostrations, he raised his hands in the same way, said the takbīr, and supplicated with words like those in ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz’s report, with some additions and omissions. This version does not include, ‘All good is in Your hands, and evil is not attributed to You.’ It adds that when he finished the prayer, he said: ‘O Allah, forgive me what I did before and what I did later, what I concealed and what I made public. You are my God; there is no god but You.’

Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah said: Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir, Ibn Abī Farwah, and other jurists of Medina said to me, ‘When you say that, say, “I too am among those who submit,”’ meaning the words, ‘and I am the first of those who submit.’

Anas ibn Mālik reported that a man came to the prayer, breathless, and said, ‘Allah is greatest. Praise belongs to Allah—abundant, good, blessed praise.’ When the Messenger of Allah finished the prayer, he said, ‘Who among you said those words? He did well.’ The man replied, ‘I did, Messenger of Allah. I arrived breathless and said them.’ He said, ‘I saw twelve angels rushing to see which of them would take them up.’ Ḥumayd adds: ‘When one of you comes, let him walk at his usual pace, then pray whatever part he catches and make up what he missed.’

Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim reported that his father saw the Messenger of Allah praying. ʿAmr said: I do not know which prayer it was. He said: ‘Allah is supremely great’ three times; ‘Praise belongs abundantly to Allah’ three times; and ‘Glory be to Allah morning and evening.’ Then, three times, he said: ‘I seek refuge in Allah from Satan—from his puffing, his spittle, and his prompting.’ He said: ‘His spittle is poetry, his puffing is pride, and his prompting is madness.’

Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr reported from his father: I heard the Prophet say this during a voluntary prayer. He related something similar.

ʿĀṣim ibn Ḥumayd said: I asked ʿĀʾishah, ‘With what words did the Messenger of Allah begin the night prayer?’ She replied, ‘You have asked me something no one before you has asked. When he rose, he said “Allah is greatest” ten times, praised Allah ten times, glorified Allah ten times, proclaimed His oneness ten times, and sought forgiveness ten times. He said, “O Allah, forgive me, guide me, provide for me, and grant me well-being,” and sought refuge from the distress of standing on the Day of Resurrection.’ Abū Dāwūd said: Khālid ibn Maʿdān also narrated something similar from Rabīʿah al-Jurashī, from ʿĀʾishah.’

Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf said: I asked ʿĀʾishah, ‘With what did the Prophet of Allah begin his prayer when he rose at night?’ She said: ‘When he rose at night, he began his prayer by saying, “O Allah, Lord of Jibrīl, Mīkāʾīl, and Isrāfīl, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, You judge between Your servants concerning that over which they differ. By Your permission, guide me to the truth in matters over which they differ. You guide whomever You will to a straight path.”’

ʿIkrimah narrated this report through the same chain and with the same meaning, but without the wording of the transmission. It says: ‘When he rose at night, he said the takbīr and would say…’

Mālik said: There is no harm in supplicating during prayer—at its beginning, middle, or end—in an obligatory prayer or any other prayer.

Rifāʿah ibn Rāfiʿ al-Zuraqī said: One day we were praying behind the Messenger of Allah. When he raised his head from bowing, he said, ‘Allah hears whoever praises Him.’ A man behind him said, ‘O Allah, our Lord, to You belongs praise—abundant, good, blessed praise.’ When the Messenger of Allah finished, he asked, ‘Who said those words just now?’ The man said, ‘I did, Messenger of Allah.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘I saw more than thirty angels hastening to see which of them would write them first.’

Ibn ʿAbbās reported that when the Messenger of Allah rose for prayer in the middle of the night, he said: ‘O Allah, praise belongs to You. You are the Light of the heavens and the earth. Praise belongs to You; You sustain the heavens and the earth. Praise belongs to You; You are the Lord of the heavens and the earth and all who are in them. You are the Truth; Your word is true; Your promise is true; meeting You is true; Paradise is true; the Fire is true; and the Hour is true. O Allah, to You I submit, in You I believe, upon You I rely, to You I turn in repentance, by You I contend, and to You I submit my judgment. Forgive what I did before and what I did later, what I concealed and what I made public. You are my God; there is no god but You.’

Ibn ʿAbbās reported that during the night vigil, after saying ‘Allah is greatest,’ the Messenger of Allah would say this; then the narrator related a report with the same meaning.

Rifāʿah ibn Rāfiʿ reported: I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah. Rifāʿah sneezed—Qutaybah’s version does not name Rifāʿah—and I said, ‘Praise belongs to Allah, abundant, good, blessed praise, blessed and pleasing to our Lord.’ When the Messenger of Allah finished the prayer, he turned and said, ‘Who spoke during the prayer?’ The narrator then related a report like Mālik’s, but more fully.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah reported from his father: A young man from the Anṣār sneezed behind the Messenger of Allah while he was praying and said, ‘Praise belongs to Allah—abundant, good, blessed praise, pleasing to our Lord and after He is pleased, in the affairs of this world and the Hereafter.’ When the Messenger of Allah finished, he said, ‘Who said those words?’ The young man remained silent. He asked again, ‘Who said those words? He did well.’ The young man replied, ‘Messenger of Allah, I said them, intending nothing but good.’ He said, ‘They reached the Throne of the All-Merciful.’

Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī reported that when the Messenger of Allah rose at night, he said the takbīr and then said: ‘Glory and praise be to You, O Allah. Blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god besides You.’ He then said three times, ‘There is no god but Allah,’ and three times, ‘Allah is supremely great.’ Then he said, ‘I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan the accursed, from his prompting, his puffing, and his spittle.’ Then he recited. Abū Dāwūd said: They say this report is narrated from ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī, from al-Ḥasan, as a mursal report; the error is from Jaʿfar.

ʿĀʾishah reported that when the Messenger of Allah began the prayer, he said: ‘Glory and praise be to You, O Allah. Blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god besides You.’ Abū Dāwūd said: This report is not well known from ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Ḥarb. Only Ṭalq ibn Ghannām narrated it. A group narrated the description of the prayer from Budayl but did not mention any of this supplication.

Al-Ḥasan said that Samurah said: ‘I remember two pauses in the prayer: one after the imam says the takbīr, before reciting, and another after reciting the Opening of the Book and a sūrah, before bowing.’ ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn objected to this. They wrote about it to Ubayy in Medina, and he confirmed Samurah’s account. Abū Dāwūd said: Ḥumayd likewise mentioned in this report a pause after finishing the recitation.

Samurah ibn Jundub reported from the Prophet that he would pause twice: when beginning the prayer and after completing all the recitation. The narrator related a report with the same meaning as Yūnus’s.

Al-Ḥasan reported that Samurah ibn Jundub and ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn discussed this. Samurah said he remembered two pauses from the Messenger of Allah: one after saying the takbīr, and one after finishing the recitation of ‘not those who have incurred anger, nor those who are astray.’ Samurah remembered it, but ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn objected. They wrote about it to Ubayy ibn Kaʿb. In his letter to them—or in his reply to them—he said that Samurah had remembered correctly.