Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)

Ahmad ibn Salih narrated to us: ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb narrated to us: ʿAmr informed me, from Bakr ibn Sawadah al-Judhami, from Salih ibn Khaywan, from Abu Sahlah al-Saʾib ibn Khallad—Ahmad said that he was one of the Prophet’s Companions—that a man led a group in prayer and spat toward the qiblah while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) watched. When he had finished, the Messenger of Allah said: ‘He must not lead you in prayer.’ Later, when the man tried to lead them, they stopped him and told him what the Messenger of Allah had said. He reported this to the Messenger of Allah, who said: ‘Yes.’ The narrator said: I think he added: ‘You have harmed Allah and His Messenger.’

Musa ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us: Hammad narrated to us: Saʿid al-Jurayri informed us, from Abu al-ʿAlaʾ, from Mutarrif, from his father, who said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was praying, and he spat beneath his left foot.

Musaddad narrated to us: Yazid ibn Zurayʿ narrated to us, from Saʿid al-Jurayri, from Abu al-ʿAlaʾ, from his father, with a report of similar meaning. He added: ‘Then he rubbed it with his sandal.’

Qutaybah ibn Saʿid narrated to us: al-Faraj ibn Fadalah narrated to us, from Abu Saʿid, who said: I saw Wathilah ibn al-Asqaʿ in the mosque of Damascus spit on the reed mat, then rub it with his foot. He was asked: ‘Why did you do that?’ He replied: ‘Because I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) do it.’

Yahya ibn al-Fadl al-Sijistani, Hisham ibn ʿAmmar, and Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Dimashqis narrated this hadith—the wording here is Yahya ibn al-Fadl’s. They said: Hatim ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us: Yaʿqub ibn Mujahid Abu Hazrah narrated to us, from ʿUbadah ibn al-Walid ibn ʿUbadah ibn al-Samit: We came to Jabir—meaning Ibn ʿAbd Allah—while he was in his mosque. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us in this mosque, holding a date-palm stalk of the Ibn Tab variety. He looked and saw phlegm toward the mosque’s qiblah side, went to it, and scraped it away with the stalk. Then he said: ‘Who among you would like Allah to turn His face away from him?’ He continued: ‘When one of you stands to pray, Allah is before his face, so let him not spit in front of himself or to his right. Let him spit to his left, beneath his left foot. If an urgent need overtakes him, let him do this with his garment.’ He placed it over his mouth and rubbed it. Then he said: ‘Bring me some ʿabir perfume.’ A young man of the clan hurried to his family and came back with khuluq in his palm. The Messenger of Allah took it, put it on the end of the stalk, and smeared it over the trace of the phlegm. Jabir said: ‘From then on, you began using khuluq in your mosques.’

ʿIsa ibn Hammad narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us, from Saʿid al-Maqburi, from Sharik ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Namir, who heard Anas ibn Malik say: A man entered on a camel, made it kneel in the mosque, and hobbled it. Then he asked: ‘Which of you is Muhammad?’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was reclining among them. We said to him: ‘That fair-skinned man reclining there.’ The man said: ‘O son of ʿAbd al-Muttalib.’ The Prophet replied: ‘I am here; you have your answer.’ The man said: ‘O Muhammad, I am going to ask you.’ The narrator continued the report.

Muhammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: Salamah narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated to me: Salamah ibn Kuhayl and Muhammad ibn al-Walid ibn Nuwayfiʿ narrated to me, from Kurayb, from Ibn ʿAbbas, who said: Banu Saʿd ibn Bakr sent Dimam ibn Thaʿlabah to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He came to him, made his camel kneel at the mosque door, hobbled it, then entered the mosque. He mentioned a report of similar meaning. He said: ‘Which of you is the son of ʿAbd al-Muttalib?’ The Messenger of Allah replied: ‘I am the son of ʿAbd al-Muttalib.’ He said: ‘O son of ʿAbd al-Muttalib,’ and continued the report.

Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Faris narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Razzaq narrated to us: Maʿmar informed us, from al-Zuhri, who said: A man of Muzaynah narrated to us while we were with Saʿid ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Jews came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was sitting in the mosque among his Companions. They said: ‘Abu al-Qasim, a man and a woman among us have committed adultery.’

ʿUthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Jarir narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Mujahid, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmayr, from Abu Dharr, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘The earth has been made for me a means of purification and a place of prayer.’

Sulayman ibn Dawud narrated to us: Ibn Wahb informed us: Ibn Lahiʿah and Yahya ibn Azhar narrated to me, from ʿAmmar ibn Saʿd al-Muradi, from Abu Salih al-Ghifari, that ʿAli (may Allah be pleased with him) passed through Babylon while traveling. The caller to prayer came to him, calling for the afternoon prayer. When he had come out of it, he ordered the caller to announce the commencement of prayer. When he finished, he said: ‘My beloved (the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him) forbade me to pray in a graveyard, and forbade me to pray in the land of Babylon, for it is accursed.’

Ahmad ibn Salih narrated to us: Ibn Wahb narrated to us: Yahya ibn Azhar and Ibn Lahiʿah informed me, from al-Hajjaj ibn Shaddad, from Abu Salih al-Ghifari, from ʿAli, with a report like Sulayman ibn Dawud’s. He said ‘when he went out’ in place of ‘when he emerged.’

Musa ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us: Hammad narrated to us. And Musaddad narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahid narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Yahya, from his father, from Abu Saʿid, who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said—and in his report Musa said, according to what ʿAmr thought, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘The whole earth is a place of prayer except the public bath and the graveyard.’

ʿUthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Abu Muʿawiyah narrated to us: al-Aʿmash narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Razi, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from al-Baraʾ ibn ʿAzib, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about praying in the places where camels kneel. He replied: ‘Do not pray in the places where camels kneel, for they are from the devils.’ He was asked about praying in sheepfolds. He replied: ‘Pray in them, for they are a blessing.’

Muhammad ibn ʿIsa—meaning Ibn al-Tabbaʿ—narrated to us: Ibrahim ibn Saʿd narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Rabiʿ ibn Sabrah, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Instruct a boy to pray when he reaches seven years of age, and when he reaches ten, strike him for it.’

Muʾammal ibn Hisham—meaning al-Yashkuri—narrated to us: Ismaʿil narrated to us, from Sawwar Abu Hamzah—Abu Dawud said: he is Sawwar ibn Dawud Abu Hamzah al-Muzani al-Sayrafi—from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Command your children to pray when they are seven years old, and discipline them physically for it when they are ten, and separate them in their beds.’

Zuhayr ibn Harb narrated to us: Wakiʿ narrated to us: Dawud ibn Sawwar al-Muzani narrated to me, with its chain and meaning, adding: ‘When one of you marries his female servant to his male slave or hired worker, he should not look at what is below the navel and above the knee.’ Abu Dawud said: Wakiʿ erred in his name. Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi narrated this hadith from him, saying: ‘Abu Hamzah Sawwar al-Sayrafi.’

Sulayman ibn Dawud al-Mahri narrated to us: Ibn Wahb narrated to us: Hisham ibn Saʿd informed us: Muʿadh ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Khubayb al-Juhani narrated to me: We went in to see him, and he asked his wife: ‘When should a boy pray?’ She replied: ‘A man among us used to report from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he was asked about this and said: “When he can distinguish his right from his left, command him to pray.”’

ʿAbbad ibn Musa al-Khuttali and Ziyad ibn Ayyub narrated to us—the report of ʿAbbad is more complete. They said: Hushaym narrated to us, from Abu Bishr—Ziyad said: Abu Bishr informed us—from Abu ʿUmayr ibn Anas, from his paternal uncles among the Ansar, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was concerned about how to gather people for prayer. Someone suggested: ‘Raise a flag when prayer time comes; when they see it, they can notify one another.’ He did not like that. Then the horn was suggested to him—meaning the shabbur; Ziyad said, ‘the Jews’ horn.’ He did not like that either, saying: ‘It belongs to the Jews.’ Then the bell was suggested, and he said: ‘It belongs to the Christians.’ ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd went away troubled by the Messenger of Allah’s concern, and the call to prayer was shown to him in a dream. In the morning he went to the Messenger of Allah and told him: ‘Messenger of Allah, while I was between sleep and wakefulness, someone came to me and showed me the call to prayer.’ ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) had seen it before that, but kept it to himself for twenty days. Then he told the Prophet, who asked: ‘What kept you from telling me?’ He replied: ‘ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd got ahead of me, and I felt shy.’ The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Bilal, get up and see what ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd instructs you to do, and do it.’ Bilal then called the prayer. Abu Bishr said: Abu ʿUmayr told me that the Ansar believed that, had ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd not been ill that day, the Messenger of Allah would have appointed him as the caller to prayer.

Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Tusi narrated to us: Yaʿqub narrated to us: My father narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, who narrated to me: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Harith al-Taymi narrated to me, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, who said: My father ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd narrated to me: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that a bell be made to call people together for prayer, a man carrying a bell in his hand came around me in my sleep. I said: ‘O servant of Allah, will you sell the bell?’ He asked: ‘What will you do with it?’ I replied: ‘We will call people to prayer with it.’ He said: ‘Shall I show you something better than that?’ I replied: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Say: Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest. I testify that there is no god but Allah; I testify that there is no god but Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to prayer, come to prayer. Come to salvation, come to salvation. Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest. There is no god but Allah.’ He then moved a short distance away and said: ‘When you establish the prayer, say: Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest. I testify that there is no god but Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to prayer. Come to salvation. The prayer is about to begin, the prayer is about to begin. Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest. There is no god but Allah.’ When morning came, I went to the Messenger of Allah and told him what I had seen. He said: ‘It is truly a true vision, if Allah wills. Stand with Bilal and teach him what you saw, so that he may call the prayer with it; his voice is more resonant than yours.’ I stood with Bilal and began teaching it to him, and he called the prayer with it. ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab heard this while he was in his house, came out dragging his cloak, and said: ‘By the One who sent you with the truth, Messenger of Allah, I saw the same vision.’ The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Praise belongs to Allah.’ Abu Dawud said: This is the version narrated by al-Zuhri from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyab, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd. In Ibn Ishaq’s version from al-Zuhri, it says ‘Allah is greatest’ four times at the beginning. Maʿmar and Yunus, in their versions from al-Zuhri, have it twice; they did not repeat it four times.

Musaddad narrated to us: al-Harith ibn ʿUbayd narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abi Mahdhurah, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: I said: ‘Messenger of Allah, teach me the form of the call to prayer.’ He wiped the front of my head and said: ‘Say “Allah is greatest” four times, raising your voice with them. Then say “I testify that there is no god but Allah” twice, and “I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” twice, lowering your voice for these. Then raise your voice for the testimony: “I testify that there is no god but Allah” twice, and “I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” twice; then “Come to prayer” twice, “Come to salvation” twice. If it is the dawn prayer, say “Prayer is better than sleep” twice. Then “Allah is greatest” twice; there is no god but Allah.’