Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)

Abu Qatadah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “There is no negligence in sleep. Negligence occurs while awake, when someone delays a prayer until the time of another prayer begins.”

Anas ibn Malik reported that the Prophet said: “Whoever forgets a prayer should pray it when he remembers it; there is no expiation for it except that.”

Imran ibn Husayn reported: The Messenger of Allah was on a journey, and they slept through the dawn prayer. They woke because of the sun’s heat and traveled a little until the sun had risen high. He ordered the caller to give the adhan, prayed two sunnah rakahs before dawn, then the iqamah was given and he prayed the obligatory dawn prayer.

Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri said: We were with the Messenger of Allah on one of his journeys when he slept through dawn until the sun had risen. The Messenger of Allah woke and said: “Move away from this place.” Then he ordered Bilal to call the adhan. They performed ablution and prayed two sunnah rakahs before dawn. Then he ordered Bilal to give the iqamah, and he led them in the dawn prayer.

Dhu Mikhbar al-Habashi, who served the Prophet, reported this version of the account: The Prophet performed ablution without getting dirt on him. Then he ordered Bilal to call the adhan. The Prophet stood and prayed two rakahs without haste, then said to Bilal: “Establish the prayer.” Then he prayed the obligatory prayer without haste. Hajjaj’s report says: Yazid ibn Sulayh told me, from Dhu Mikhbar, a man from Abyssinia. Ubayd said: Yazid ibn Salih.

Dhu Mikhbar, the nephew of the Negus, reported this account through another chain. This version adds: Bilal called the adhan without haste.

Abd Allah ibn Masud said: We traveled with the Messenger of Allah at the time of al-Hudaybiyyah. The Messenger of Allah asked: “Who will keep watch for us?” Bilal said: “I will.” They slept until the sun rose. The Prophet woke and said: “Do as you usually do.” So they did. He said: “Do the same for anyone who sleeps through a prayer or forgets it.”

Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “I was not commanded to build lofty mosques.” Ibn Abbas said: “You will surely adorn them as the Jews and Christians adorned theirs.”

Anas reported that the Prophet said: “The Last Hour will not come until people vie with one another in boasting about mosques.”

Uthman ibn Abi al-As reported that the Prophet instructed him to establish the mosque of al-Taif where their idols had stood.

Abd Allah ibn Umar reported: During the time of the Messenger of Allah, the mosque was built of mud bricks and palm branches; Mujahid said its supports were palm wood. Abu Bakr made no additions. Umar enlarged it and rebuilt it as it had been in the Prophet’s time, with mud bricks and palm branches, replacing its supports—Mujahid said they were wooden. Uthman changed it and greatly enlarged it, building its walls from carved stone and plaster, making its supports of carved stone, and roofing it with teak. Mujahid said its roof was teak. Abu Dawud said: Qassah means plaster.

Ibn Umar reported: During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, the pillars of the Prophet’s mosque were palm trunks, and its upper part was shaded with palm branches. They decayed during Abu Bakr’s caliphate, and he rebuilt it with palm trunks and branches. They decayed again during Uthman’s caliphate, and he rebuilt it with bricks; it remained standing thereafter.

Musaddad narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Warith narrated to us, from Abu al-Tayyah, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Medina and stayed in its upper part, among a clan called Banu ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf. He remained among them for fourteen nights. Then he sent for Banu al-Najjar, and they came with their swords at their sides. Anas said: It is as though I can see the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on his mount, with Abu Bakr behind him and the leading men of Banu al-Najjar around him, until he arrived in the courtyard of Abu Ayyub. He would pray wherever prayer time came upon him, and he would pray in sheepfolds. He ordered that the mosque be built, sent for Banu al-Najjar, and said: ‘O Banu al-Najjar, set a price for me for this walled plot of yours.’ They replied: ‘By Allah, we seek its price from none but Allah, Mighty and Majestic.’ Anas said: I will tell you what was on it: the graves of polytheists, ruins, and date palms. The Messenger of Allah ordered that the graves be exhumed, the ruins leveled, and the date palms cut down. They arranged the palms along the mosque’s qiblah side and made its two doorposts of stone. They carried stones, reciting rajaz verses, while the Prophet was with them, saying: ‘O Allah, there is no good except the good of the Hereafter; so support the Ansar and the Emigrants.’

Musa ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us: Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Abu al-Tayyah, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The mosque’s site was a walled plot belonging to Banu al-Najjar, containing cultivated land, date palms, and the graves of polytheists. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Set a price for it for me.’ They replied: ‘We seek no price for it.’ The date palms were cut down, the cultivated land leveled, and the graves of the polytheists exhumed. He then related the rest of the report, saying ‘forgive’ in place of ‘support.’ Musa said: ʿAbd al-Warith narrated a similar report to us. ʿAbd al-Warith used the word khirab (ruins), and claimed that he had supplied Hammad with this report.

Muhammad ibn al-ʿAlaʾ narrated to us: Husayn ibn ʿAli narrated to us, from Zaʾidah, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿAʾishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah commanded that mosques be built in the neighborhoods, and that they be cleaned and perfumed.

Muhammad ibn Dawud ibn Sufyan narrated to us: Yahya—meaning Ibn Hassan—narrated to us: Sulayman ibn Musa narrated to us: Jaʿfar ibn Saʿd ibn Samurah narrated to us: Khubayb ibn Sulayman narrated to me, from his father Sulayman ibn Samurah, from his father Samurah, who wrote to his son: To proceed: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to instruct us regarding mosques: to build them in our homes, make their construction sound, and purify them.

Al-Nufayli narrated to us: Miskin narrated to us, from Saʿid ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, from Ziyad ibn Abi Sawdah, from Maymunah, the freedwoman of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: ‘Messenger of Allah, give us a ruling about Bayt al-Maqdis.’ He replied: ‘Go to it and pray in it.’—At that time the lands were in a state of war.—‘If you cannot go to it and pray in it, then send oil to be used to light its lamps.’

Sahl ibn Tammam ibn Baziʿ narrated to us: ʿUmar ibn Sulaym al-Bahili narrated to us, from Abu al-Walid, who said: I asked Ibn ʿUmar about the gravel in the mosque. He replied: ‘Rain fell on us one night, and by morning the ground was wet. A man would come carrying gravel in his garment and spread it beneath himself.’ When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the prayer, he said: ‘How good this is!’

ʿUthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Abu Muʿawiyah and Wakiʿ narrated to us; they said: al-Aʿmash narrated to us, from Abu Salih, who said: It used to be said that when a man takes gravel out of the mosque, it appeals to him.

Muhammad ibn Ishaq Abu Bakr—meaning al-Saghani—narrated to us: Abu Badr, Shujaʿ ibn al-Walid, narrated to us: Sharik narrated to us: Abu Husayn narrated to us, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah—Abu Badr said: I think he traced it back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—who said: ‘The pebble certainly appeals to whoever removes it from the mosque.’