Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

“I heard Abu Sa’d, a man from the people ofMadinah,say: ‘I saw Abu Rafi’, the freed slave of the Messengerof Allah(ﷺ), when he saw Hasan bin ‘Ali performing prayer, withhis hairbraided. He undid it, or told him not to do that, and said:“TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade a man from performing prayerwith hishair braided.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said:‘Do not lift your gaze to the heavens lest your sight besnatched away,” meaning during prayer.

“The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)led his Companions in prayer one day. When he had finishedprayer heturned to face the people and said: ‘What is wrong with somepeoplethat they lift their gaze to the heavens?’ He spoke severelyconcerning that: ‘They should certainly abstain from that or Allahwill snatch away their sight.’”

“Letthose who lift their gaze to the heavens desist, or their sightwillnot come back.”

“A woman used to perform prayerbehind the Prophet (ﷺ), and she was one of the most beautiful ofpeople. Some of the people used to go into the first row so that theywould not see her, and some of them used to lag behind so that theywould be in the last row, and when they bowed, they would do likethisso that they could see her from beneath their armpits. ThenAllahrevealed: “And indeed, We know the first generations of youwho hadpassed away, and indeed, We know the present generations ofyou(mankind), and also those who will some afterwards.” [15:24]concerning her matter.

“A man came to the Prophet(ﷺ)and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! One of us performs prayer in asingle garment.’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Does everyone have twogarments?’”

AbuSa’eed Al-Khudri narrated that he entered upon the Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) when he was performing prayer in a single garment,wrapping himself in it.

“I saw the MessengerofAllah (ﷺ) performing prayer in a single garment, wrapping himselfin it and throwing the ends over his shoulders.”

“Isaw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performing prayer at Bi’r ‘Ulya,in a garment.”

“I saw the Prophet (ﷺ)performing the Zuhr and the ‘Asr in a single garment, wrapping itaround his chest.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘When a son of Adam recites a Sajdah* and prostrates, Satanwithdraws weeping, saying: ‘Woe is me! The son of Adam wascommandedto prostrate and he prostrated, and Paradise will be his; Iwascommanded to prostrate and I refused, so I am doomed to Hell.’”* An Ayah indicating prostration.

“I was with the Prophet (ﷺ),anda man came to him and said: ‘Last night while I was sleeping, Isawthat I was praying towards the base of a tree. I recited (an Ayahof)prostration and prostrated, and the tree prostrated when I did,and Iheard it saying: Allahummah-tut anni biha wizran, waktub li bihaajran, waj’al-ha li ‘indaka dhukhran (O Allah, reduce my burdenof sinthereby, reward me for it and store it for me with You).’Ibn ‘Abbassaid: “I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) recite (an Ayah of)prostration andthen prostrate, and I heard him saying in hisprostration somethinglike that which the man had told him the treesaid.”

“Allahumma laka sajadtu, wa bika amantu, wa lakaaslamtu, Anta rabbi, sajada wajhi lilladhi shaqqa sam’ahu wabasarahu,tabarak Allah ahsanul-khaliqin (O Allah, to You I haveprostrated, andin You I have believed, and to You I have submitted.You are my Lord;my face has prostrated to the One Who gave ithearing and sight.Blessed is Allah the best of Creators).”

“Abu Darda’ told me that he dideleven prostrations* with the Prophet (ﷺ), including An-Najm.”*Eleven Ayaat of prostrations.

“I performed elevenprostrationswith the Prophet (ﷺ) of which there were none in theMufassal.Al-A’raf, Ar-Ra’d, An-Nahl, Bani Isra’il, Maryam, Al-Hajj,theprostration in Al-Furqan, Surat An-Naml (mentioning) Sulaiman,As-Sajdah, Sad, and the Ha-Mim Surah.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Amr bin ‘As that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)taught him fifteen prostrations in the Qur’an, including three intheMufassal and two in Al-Hajj.

“We prostrated with theMessengerof Allah (ﷺ) in “When the heaven is split asunder” [84:1]and“Read! In the Name of your Lord.” [96:1]

"This Hadith was narrated fromYahya bin Sa'eed; I did not hear itfrom anyone but him."

“And also uponyou. Go backand repeat your prayer, for you have not prayed.” Sohe went back andrepeated his prayer, then he came and greeted theProphet (ﷺ). Hesaid: “And also upon you. Go back and repeat yourprayer, for you havenot prayed.” On the third occasion, the mansaid: “Teach me, OMessenger of Allah!” He said: “When youstand up to offer the prayer,perform ablution properly, then standto face the prayer direction andsay Allahu Akbar. Then recitewhatever you can of Qur’an, and then bowuntil you can feel at easebowing. Then stand up until you feel atease standing, then prostrateuntil you feel at ease prostrating. Thenraise your head until youare sitting up straight. Do that throughoutyour prayer.”

‘While he was among ten of theCompanions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) including Abu Qatadah: “Iheard Abu Humaid As-Sa’idi say: ‘I am the most knowledgeable ofyouconcerning the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).’ Theysaid:‘Why? By Allah, you did not follow him more than we did, andyou didnot accompany him for longer.’ He said: ‘Yes I am.’They said: ‘Showus.’ He said: ‘When the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) stood up for prayer,he would say the Takbir, then he wouldraise his hands parallel to hisshoulders, and every part of his bodywould settle in place. Then hewould recite, then he would raise hishands parallel to his shouldersand bow, placing his palms on hisknees and supporting his weight onthem. He neither lowered his head,nor raised it up, it was evenlybalanced (between either extreme).Then he would say: “Sami’ Allahuliman hamidah (Allah hears thosewho praise Him); and he would raisehis hands parallel with hisshoulders, until every bone returned toits place. Then he wouldprostrate himself on the ground, keeping hisarms away from hissides. Then he would raise his head and tuck hisleft foot under himand sit on it, and he would spread his toes whenhe prostrated.* Thenhe would prostrate, then say the Takbir and siton his left foot,until every bone returned to its place. Then hewould stand up and dothe same in the next Rak’ah. Then when he stoodup after twoRak’ah, he would raise his hands level with his shouldersas he didat the beginning of the prayer. Then he would offer the restof hisprayer in like manner until, when he did the prostration after whichtheTaslim comes, he would push one of his feet back and sit with hisweight on his left side, Mutawarrikan.’** They said: ‘You havespokenthe truth; this is how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used toperformthe prayer.’”* Meaning that he would plant them in such a way that they were facing the Qiblah.** Mutawarrikan: i.e., sitting with the left foot brought forward so that one's buttocks are in direct contact with the ground.