“I asked ‘Aishah: ‘How did theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) perform prayer?’ She said: ‘When theProphet(ﷺ) performed ablution, he would put his hand in the vesseland sayBismillah, and he would perform ablution properly. Then hewould standand face the Qiblah. He would say the Takbir raising hishandsparallel to his shoulders. Then he would bow, putting his handson hisknees and keeping his arms away from his sides. Then he wouldraisehis head and straighten his back, and he would stand a littlelongerthan your standing. Then he would prostrate, pointing hishandstowards the Qiblah, keeping his arms away (from his sides) asmuch aspossible, according to what I have seen. Then he would raisehis headand sit on his left foot with his right foot held upright,and hedisliked leaning towards his left side.’”

“The prayer while traveling is twoRak’ah, and Friday is two Rak’ah, and ‘Eid is two Rak’ah.They arecomplete and are not shortened, as told by Muhammad (ﷺ).”

“The prayer when traveling is two Rak’ah, and Friday istwoRak’ah, and Al-Fitr and Al-Adha are two Rak’ah, complete, notshortened, as told by Muhammad (ﷺ).”

“I asked ‘Umar binKhattab: ‘Allah says: “And when you travel in the land, there isnosin on you if you shorten the prayer if you fear that thedisbelieversmay put you in trial (attack you), verily, thedisbelievers are everto you open enemies,” [4:101] but now thereis security and people aresafe.’ He said: ‘I found it strangejust as you do, so I asked theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) about that,and he said: “It is charity thatAllah has bestowed upon you, soaccept His charity.”

“We find (mention of) the prayer of theresidentand the prayer in a state of fear in the Qur’an, but we donot findany mention of the prayer of the traveler. ‘Abdullah saidto him:“Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) to us, and we did not knowanything, ratherwe do what we saw Muhammad (ﷺ) doing.”

“When the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)went out from this city (Al-Madinah) he did not perform morethan twoRak’ah for prayer until he returned.”

“Allah enjoined the prayer uponthe tongue of your Prophet (ﷺ): Four Rak’ah while a resident andtwoRak’ah when traveling.”

It wasnarrated from Mujahid, Sa’eed bin Jubair, ‘Ata’ bin Abi Rabahand Tawus that Ibn ‘Abbas told them that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)used to combine the Maghrib and ‘Isha’ when traveling,although therewas nothing to make him hurry and no enemy pursuinghim, and he wasnot afraid of anything.

It wasnarrated from Mu’adh bin Jabal that the Prophet (ﷺ) combinedtheZuhr and ‘Asr, and the Maghrib and ‘Isha’ when traveling duringthe campaign of Tabuk.

“We were with Ibn ‘Umar on a journey,and he led us in prayer. Then we finished with him and he finishedturning around, and saw some people praying. He said: ‘What arethese people doing?’ I said: ‘Glorifying Allah.’* He said: ‘IfI wanted to glorify Allah (perform voluntary prayer) I would havecompleted my prayer. O son of my brother! I accompanied the Messengerof Allah (ﷺ) and he never prayed more than two Rak’ah when he wastraveling, until Allah took his soul. Then I accompanied Abu Bakr andhe never prayed more than two Rak’ah (when he was traveling), untilAllah took his soul. Then I accompanied ‘Umar and he never prayedmore than two Rak’ah, until Allah took his soul. Then I accompanied‘Uthman and he never prayed more than two Rak’ah, until Allahtook his soul. Allah says: ‘Indeed in the Messenger of Allah(Muhammad (ﷺ)) you have a good example to follow.’” [33:21]* Meaning, they were offering voluntary prayer.

“I asked Tawus about performing voluntaryprayerwhile traveling. Al-Hasan bin Muslim bin Yannaq was sittingwith himand he said: ‘Tawus told me that he heard Ibn ‘Abbas say:“TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) enjoined prayer while a resident andprayerwhen one is traveling. We used to pray when we were residentsbothbefore and after (the obligatory prayer), and we used to praybothbefore and after (the obligatory prayer) when we weretraveling.’”

“I askedSa’ib bin Yazid: ‘What have you heard about staying in Makkah?’Hesaid: ‘I heard ‘Ala’ bin Hadrami say: “The Prophet (ﷺ)said: ‘Three(days) for the Muhajir after departing (from Mina).’”** The meaning of it is: being hished from the rites (of Hajj).

“Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, who was among the people withme,told me that the Prophet (ﷺ) arrived in Makkah in the morning ofthe fourth day of Dhul-Hijjah.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)stayed for nineteen days in which he shortened his prayer to twoRak’ah. So, whenever we stayed for nineteen days we would shortenourprayer to two Rak’ah, but if we stayed more than that we wouldprayfour Rak’ah.”

It wasnarrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)stayedin Makkah for fifteen nights during the year of the Conquest,(duringwhich time) he shortened his prayer.

“We went out with theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) from Al-Madinah to Makkah, during which timewe shortened our prayer to two Rak’ah, until we came back.” Iasked:“How long did he stay in Makkah?” He said: “Ten (days).”

“The Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) said: ‘Between a person and Kufr (disbelief) is abandoningthe prayer.’”

“TheMessengerof Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘The covenant that distinguishesbetween us andthem is prayer; so whoever leaves it, he has committedKufr.’”

“There isnothing standing between a person and Shirk (polytheism)exceptleaving the prayer, so if he leaves it he has committed Shirk.”

“The Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) delivered a sermon to us and said: ‘O people! Repent toAllahbefore you die. Hasten to do good deeds before you becomepreoccupied(because of sickness and old age). Uphold the relationshipthatexists between you and your Lord by remembering Him a great dealandby giving a great deal of charity in secret and openly. (Then) youwill be granted provision and Divine support, and your condition willimprove. Know that Allah has enjoined Friday upon you in this placeofmine, on this day, in this month, in this year, until the Day ofResurrection. Whoever abandons it, whether during my lifetime orafterI am gone, whether he has a just or an unjust ruler, whether hetakesit lightly or denies (that it is obligatory), may Allah causehim tolose all sense of tranquility and contentment, and may He notblesshim in his affairs. Indeed, his prayer will not be valid, hisZakatwill not be valid, his Hajj will not be valid, his fasting willnot bevalid, and his righteous deeds will not be accepted, until herepents.Whoever repents, Allah will accept his repentance. No womanshould beappointed as Imam over a man, no Bedouin should beappointed as Imamover a Muhajir, no immoral person should beappointed as Imam over a(true) believer, unless that is forced uponhim and he fears his swordor whip.’”