Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying; Glorifying Allah applies to men and clapping applies only to women.

Abu Dawud said: This is operative in the obligatory prayer.

sahl b. Sa’d said; Fighting took place amongst the tribe of Banu ‘Amr b. ‘Awf. This (the news) reached the prophet (May peace be upon him). He came to them for their reconciliation after the noon prayer. he said to Bilal; If the time of the afternoon prayer comes, and I do not return to you, then ask Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer. When the time of the afternoon prayer came, Bilal called the Adhan and pronounced the Iqamah and then asked Abu Bakr (to lead the prayer). He stepped forward. The narrator reported this tradition to the same effect. In the end he (the prophet) said; if anything happens to you during prayer, the men should say” Glory be to Allah,” and the women should clap.

Clapping by women means that one should strike her left hand with the two fingers of her right hand.

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to make a sign during prayer.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Saying Tasbih applies to men during prayer and clapping applies to women. Anyone who makes a sign during his prayer, a sign which is intelligible by implication, should repeat it (i.e. his prayer).

(AbuDawud commented on the Hadith saying, this is a result of confusion.)

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When one of you gets up to pray, he must not remove pebbles, for mercy is facing him.

Mu’aiqib reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying ; Do not remove pebbles while you are praying; if you do it out of sheer necessity, do it only once to smooth the pebbles.

Abu hurairah said that the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) forbade putting hands on the waist during prayer. Abu Dawud said; The word Ikhtisar means to put one’s hands on one’s waist.

Hilal ibn Yasaf said: I came to ar-Raqqah (a place in Syria). One of my companions said to me: Do you want to see any of the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ)? I said: A good opportunity. So we went to Wabisah.

I said to my friend: Let us first see his mode of living. He had a cap with two ears stuck (to his head), and wearing a brown silken robe. He was resting on a staff during prayer. We asked him (about resting on the staff) after salutation; He said: Umm Qays daughter of Mihsan said to me that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) became aged and the flesh grew increasingly on him, he took a prop at his place of prayer and rested on it.

Zaid b. Arqam said ; One of us used to speak to the man standing by his side during prayer. Then the Quranic verse “ And stand up with devotion to Allah”

It has been narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said : The Prayer of a man in sitting condition is half the prayer (wins him half the reward of prayer). I came to him and found him prayer in sitting condition. I placed my hand on my head (in surprise). He said: what is the matter,’Abd Allah b. ‘Amr? I said; Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) you have been reported to me as saying : the prayer of a man in sitting condition is half the prayer , but you are praying in sitting condition. He said: yes, but I am not like one of you.

‘Imran b. Hussain asked the prophet (ﷺ) about the prayer a man offers in sitting condition. He replied: his prayer in standing condition is better than his prayer in sitting condition, and his prayer in sitting condition is half the prayer he offers in standing condition, and his prayer in lying condition is half the prayer he offers in sitting condition.

I had a fistula; so I asked the prophet (ﷺ). He said: offer prayer in standing condition; if you are unable to do so, then in sitting condition: if you are then at your side(i.e, in lying condition).

I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) reciting the Quraan in his prayer at night in sitting condition until he became old. Then he used to sit in it (the prayer) and recite the Quran until forty or thirty verses remained, then he stood and recited them and prostrated himself.

Abu Dawud said: 'Alqamah b. Waqqas narrated this tradition on the authority of 'Aishah from the Prophet (ﷺ) to the same effect.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray standing at night for a long time, and used to pray sitting at night for a long time. When he prayed standing, he bowed standing, and when he prayed sitting, he bowed sitting.

I asked ‘A’ishah whether the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited a whole Surah (of the Quran) in one Rak’ah of the prayer. She replied : (He recited from among) the Mufassal surahs. I asked: Did he pray (at night) sitting? She replied : (he prayed sitting) when the people made him old.

I said that I should look at the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) how he prays. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood up and faced the qiblah (i.e. the direction of Ka'bah) and uttered the takbir (Allah is most great); then he raised his hands till he brought them in front of his ears; then he caught hold of his left hand with his right hand (i.e. folded his hands).

When he was about to bow, he raised them (his hands) in a like manner. Then he sat, stretched out his left foot (to sit on it), placed his left hand on his left thigh, and kept away the tip of his right elbow from his right thigh, joined two fingers, formed a ring, to do so. And the narrator Bishr made a ring with the thumb and the middle finger.

"A Sunnah of the prayer is that you should raise your right foot, and make your left foot lie (on the ground)."