“Iheard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: ‘A time will come when the people willstand for a long time and will not be able to find any Imam to leadthem in prayer.”

“Youarethe most deserving of that, you were the Companion of theMessenger ofAllah (ﷺ).” But he refused and said: “I heard theMessenger of Allah(ﷺ) say: ‘Whoever leads the people and gets itright, the prayerwill be for him and for them, but if he fallsshort, then that will becounted against him but not against them.”

“A man came to the Prophet(ﷺ)and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I stay behind and do notperformthe morning prayer (in congregation) because of so-and-so, forhemakes it too long for us.’ I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)preaching with such anger as he did that day. He said; ‘O people!There are among you those who repel others. Whoever among you leadsothers in prayer, let him keep it short, for among them are those whoare weak and elderly, and those who have pressing needs.’”

“The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)used to make his prayer brief but perfect.”

“Mu’adh bin Jabal Al-Ansari led hiscompanions in the ‘Isha’ prayer and he made it long. A man amonguswent away and prayed by himself. Mu’adh was told about that andhesaid: ‘He is a hypocrite.’ When the man heard about that, hewent tothe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and told him what Mu’adh hadsaid to him.The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Do you want to be a cause ofFitnah (trial,tribulation), O Mu’adh? When you lead the people inprayer, recite “Bythe sun and its brightness,”[Ash-Shams 91] and“Glorify the Name ofyour Lord the Most High,” [Al-A’la 87] and“By the night as itenvelopes,” [Al-Lail 92] and “Recite in theName of yourLord.’”[Al-‘Alaq]

“Iheard‘Uthman bin Abul-‘As say: “The last thing that the Prophet(ﷺ)enjoined on me when he appointed me governor of Ta’if wasthat hesaid: “O ‘Uthman! Be tolerable in prayer and estimate thepeople basedupon the weakest among them, for among them are theelderly, theyoung, the sick, those who live far from the mosque, andthose whohave pressing needs.”

“When you lead people,keepit short for them.”

“The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)said: ‘I start prayer and I want to make it long, but then Ihearan infant crying, so I make my prayer short, because I know thedistress caused to the mother by his crying.’”

“The Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) said: ‘I hear an infant crying so I make the prayershort.’”

“TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘I get up to perform prayer and Iintend to make it long, but then I hear an infant crying, so I makeitshort, because I do not like to cause distress to his mother.’”

“The Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) said: ‘Will you not form your rows as the angels formtheir rows before their Lord?’ We said: ‘How do the angels formtheir rows before their Lord?’ He said: ‘They complete the firstrow and they stand close of one another in the line (leaving no gapsbetween one another).’”

“The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)said: ‘Make your rows straight, for straightening the rows ispartof completing the prayer.’”

“TheMessengerof Allah (ﷺ) used to straighten the rows until he madethem like aspear or an arrow-shaft. Once he saw a man’s chest(sticking out)so the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Make your rowsstraight orAllah will create division among you.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said:‘Allah and His angels send blessings upon those who complete therows, and whoever fills a gap, Allah will raise him one degree instatus thereby.’”

It wasnarrated from ‘Irbad bin Sariyah that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)used to ask for forgiveness for the first row three times andfor thesecond row twice.

“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say:‘Allahand the angels send blessings upon the first row.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘If they knew what (goodness) there is in the first row, theywould cast lots for it.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Allah and the angelssend blessings upon the first row.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘The best rows for women are the back rows, and the worst arethe front rows, and the best rows for men are the front rows, and theworst are the back rows.’”

“The Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) said: ‘The best rows for men are the front rows and theworstrows are the back rows, and the best rows for women are the backrowsand the worst are the front rows.’”