Actions while Praying

Kuraib, the freedman of Ibn ‘Abbas, reported from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who spent the night at the home of his maternal aunt, Maymunah, Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her). He said: I lay across the width of the cushion, while the Messenger of Allah and his family lay along its length. The Messenger of Allah slept until around the middle of the night—slightly before or after it. Then he awoke, sat up, wiped the traces of sleep from his face with his hand, and recited the final ten verses of Surah Aal ‘Imran. He went to a hanging water-skin, performed ablution from it, and did so thoroughly, then stood to pray. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said: I got up and did as he had done, then went and stood beside him. The Messenger of Allah placed his right hand on my head and took my right ear, turning it with his hand. He prayed two rak‘ahs, then two, then two, then two, then two, then two; then he prayed witr. He lay down until the caller came. He rose and prayed two brief rak‘ahs, then went out and prayed Fajr.

‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We used to greet the Prophet while he was praying, and he would return our greeting. When we returned from the Negus, we greeted him, but he did not respond. He said: ‘Prayer occupies one.’

‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported from the Prophet with similar wording.

Abu ‘Amr al-Shaybani said: Zayd ibn Arqam told me: In the Prophet’s lifetime, we used to speak during prayer, and a person would speak with his companion about what he needed. This continued until the verse ‘Maintain the prayers’ was revealed, and then we were commanded to remain silent.

Sahl (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet went out to reconcile between Banu ‘Amr ibn ‘Awf. When the time for prayer came, Bilal went to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said, ‘The Prophet has been delayed. Will you lead the people in prayer?’ He replied, ‘Yes, if you wish.’ Bilal called the prayer, and Abu Bakr stepped forward and led it. The Prophet came, walking through the rows until he stood in the front row, and the people began clapping. Sahl said: Do you know what tasfih is? It is clapping. Abu Bakr did not turn around during prayer, but when the people clapped repeatedly he looked and saw the Prophet in the row. The Prophet gestured to him, ‘Stay where you are.’ Abu Bakr raised his hands, praised Allah, then stepped backward, and the Prophet came forward and led the prayer.

‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We used to say the salutations in prayer, name [others], and greet one another. The Messenger of Allah heard us and said: ‘Say: All greetings, prayers, and good things belong to Allah. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. Peace be upon us and upon Allah’s righteous servants. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. When you say this, you have greeted every righteous servant of Allah in heaven and earth.’

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet said: ‘The glorification “Subhan Allah” is for men, and clapping is for women.’

Sahl ibn Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet said: ‘The glorification “Subhan Allah” is for men, and clapping is for women.’

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Muslims were praying Fajr on Monday, with Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) leading them, when the Prophet suddenly appeared after lifting the curtain of ‘A’ishah’s room, and looked at them as they stood in rows. He smiled and laughed. Abu Bakr stepped backward, thinking that the Messenger of Allah wanted to come out and lead the prayer. The Muslims were nearly distracted from their prayer by their joy at seeing the Prophet, so he gestured with his hand for them to complete the prayer. Then he went back into the room and let the curtain fall. He died on that day.

Al-Layth said: Ja'far narrated to me, from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz, who said: Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

A woman called her son while he was in a hermitage. She said, ‘Juraij!’ He said, ‘O Allah, my mother and my prayer!’ She called, ‘Juraij!’ He said, ‘O Allah, my mother and my prayer!’ She called, ‘Juraij!’ He said, ‘O Allah, my mother and my prayer!’ She said, ‘O Allah, may Juraij not die until he sees the faces of prostitutes.’ A shepherdess who used to come to his hermitage to graze sheep gave birth. She was asked, ‘Whose child is this?’ She said, ‘Juraij’s; he came down from his hermitage.’ Juraij said, ‘Where is this woman who claims that her child is mine?’ He said, ‘O Babus, who is your father?’ The child replied, ‘The shepherd.’

Abu Nu'aym narrated to us; Shayban narrated to us, from Yahya, from Abu Salamah, who said: Mu'ayqib narrated to me that the Prophet (ﷺ) said about a man smoothing the soil where he prostrates: ‘If you must do so, then do it once.’

Musaddad narrated to us; Bishr narrated to us; Ghalib narrated to us, from Bakr ibn 'Abdullah, from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: We used to pray with the Prophet (ﷺ) in intense heat. When one of us could not place his face on the ground, he would spread out his garment and prostrate on it.

'Abdullah ibn Maslamah narrated to us; Malik narrated to us, from Abu al-Nadr, from Abu Salamah, from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: I used to stretch out my legs in the direction of the Prophet's qiblah while he prayed. When he prostrated, he nudged me, so I withdrew them; when he stood, I stretched them out again.

Mahmud narrated to us; Shababah narrated to us; Shu'bah narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ziyad, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (ﷺ): He prayed and said, ‘Satan confronted me and rushed at me to interrupt my prayer, but Allah gave me power over him, and I seized him. I had nearly tied him to a pillar so that you might awaken in the morning and see him. Then I remembered Solomon's words (peace be upon him): “My Lord, grant me a kingdom that will not befit anyone after me.” So Allah sent him away humiliated.’

Then al-Nadr ibn Shumayl said: ‘Fa-dha'attuhu,’ with dhāl, means ‘I choked him.’ As for ‘fa-da'attuhu,’ it comes from Allah's words, “the day they are pushed,” meaning driven; the correct form is ‘fa-da'attuhu,’ although he pronounced it with a doubled 'ayn and tā'.

Adam narrated to us; Shu'bah narrated to us; al-Azraq ibn Qays narrated: We were at al-Ahwaz fighting the Haruriyyah. While I was on the bank of a river, I saw a man praying with the reins of his mount in his hand. The animal began pulling away, and he followed it. Shu'bah said: He was Abu Barzah al-Aslami. A man from the Kharijites began saying, ‘O Allah, deal with this old man!’ When the old man finished, he said, ‘I heard what you said. I went on six, seven, or eight campaigns with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and I witnessed his easygoing approach. I would rather go after my mount than leave it to return to its accustomed place, which would cause me hardship.’

Muhammad ibn Muqatil narrated to us; 'Abdullah informed us; Yunus informed us, from al-Zuhri, from 'Urwah, who said: 'A'ishah said: The sun was eclipsed, and the Prophet (ﷺ) stood and recited a long surah. Then he bowed for a long time and raised his head. Then he began reciting another surah, bowed until he completed it, and prostrated. He did the same in the second rak'ah. Then he said: ‘These are two of Allah's signs. When you see them, pray until relief comes to you. In this place of mine, I have seen everything I was promised. I even saw myself wanting to take a cluster from Paradise when you saw me step forward. I saw Hell, parts of it crushing one another, when you saw me step back. And I saw in it 'Amr ibn Luhayy, the one who instituted the practice of setting free the Sa'ibah.’

Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us; Hammad narrated to us, from Ayyub, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): The Prophet (ﷺ) saw sputum in the direction of the mosque's qiblah. He became angry with the people of the mosque and said: ‘Allah is before each of you. When one of you is praying, let him not spit—or, he said, expectorate.’ Then he went down and scraped it away with his hand. Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: ‘When one of you spits, let him spit to his left.’

Muhammad narrated to us; Ghundar narrated to us; Shu'bah narrated to us, saying: I heard Qatadah, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: ‘When someone is praying, he is conversing privately with his Lord. So let him not spit in front of him or to his right, but to his left, beneath his left foot.’

Muhammad narrated to us; Ghundar narrated to us; Shu'bah narrated to us, saying: I heard Qatadah, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: ‘When someone is praying, he is conversing privately with his Lord. So let him not spit in front of him or to his right, but to his left, beneath his left foot.’