Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 1305
Arabic hadith text
حَدَّثَنَا سُوَيْدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُسْهِرٍ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، قَالَ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ إِذَا صَلَّى يَوْمَ عِيدٍ أَوْ غَيْرَهُ نُصِبَتِ الْحَرْبَةُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ فَيُصَلِّي إِلَيْهَا وَالنَّاسُ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ . قَالَ نَافِعٌ فَمِنْ ثَمَّ اتَّخَذَهَا الأُمَرَاءُ .
Translation
Suwayd ibn Saeed narrated to us; Ali ibn Mushir narrated to us, from Ubaydullah, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, who said: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed on Eid or another day, a spear was set up before him, and he prayed facing it, with the people behind him. Nafi said: From this practice the rulers adopted it.