Sunan Ibn Majah
Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them
كتاب إقامة الصلاة والسنة فيها
Chapter 6
الْقِرَاءَةِ فِي صَلاَةِ الْفَجْرِ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Harmalah ibn Yahya narrated to us: 'Abdullah ibn Wahb narrated to us: Ibrahim ibn Sa'd informed me, from his father, from al-A'raj, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite in the Fajr prayer on Friday: ‘Alif Lam Mim. The revelation...’ and ‘Has there not come upon man...’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source quotes the openings of the same two Quranic passages as the preceding report.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ishaq ibn Mansur informed us: Ishaq ibn Sulayman informed us: 'Amr ibn Abi Qays informed us, from Abu Farwah, from Abu al-Ahwas, from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite in the Fajr prayer on Friday: ‘Alif Lam Mim. The revelation...’ and ‘Has there not come upon man...’ Ishaq said: ‘This is how 'Amr narrated it to us, from 'Abdullah; I have no doubt about it.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final statement is Ishaq's transmission note, affirming his certainty about 'Amr's narration from 'Abdullah.
Chapter 7
الْقِرَاءَةِ فِي الظُّهْرِ وَالْعَصْرِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Zayd ibn al-Hubab narrated to us: Mu'awiyah ibn Salih narrated to us: Rabi'ah ibn Yazid narrated to us, from Qaza'ah, who said: I asked Abu Sa'id al-Khudri about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said, ‘There is no good for you in that.’ I said, ‘Please explain, may Allah have mercy on you.’ He said: The call to prayer for Zuhr would be made for the Messenger of Allah. One of us would go to al-Baqi', relieve himself, return, perform ablution, and find the Messenger of Allah in the first rak'ah of Zuhr.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The opening exchange is retained, including Abu Sa'id's initial refusal and Qaza'ah's request for clarification. The report then describes the time available after the call for Zuhr.
فَقَالَ لَيْسَ لَكَ فِي ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ
The idiomatic reply is terse; it may convey reluctance to answer rather than a literal judgment about benefit.
Should this be rendered as ‘I have nothing useful for you in that’ or retained literally?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us: Waki' narrated to us: Al-A'mash narrated to us, from 'Umarah ibn 'Umayr, from Abu Ma'mar, who said: I asked Khabbab, ‘By what could you recognize the Messenger of Allah's recitation in Zuhr and 'Asr?’ He said: ‘By the movement of his beard.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us: Abu Bakr al-Hanafi narrated to us: Al-Dahhak ibn 'Uthman narrated to me: Bukayr ibn 'Abdullah ibn al-Ashajj narrated to us, from Sulayman ibn Yasar, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: I have not seen anyone whose prayer more closely resembled the Messenger of Allah's (peace and blessings be upon him) than so-and-so. He would lengthen the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr, shorten the last two, and shorten 'Asr.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source itself uses an unnamed placeholder (فُلاَنٍ); it is preserved as ‘so-and-so’.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Yahya ibn Hakim narrated to us: Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi narrated to us: Al-Mas'udi narrated to us: Zayd al-'Ammi narrated to us, from Abu Nadrah, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, who said: Thirty veterans of Badr among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gathered and said, ‘Come, let us estimate the Messenger of Allah's recitation in the prayers in which he did not recite aloud.’ Not even two of them disagreed. They estimated that his recitation in the first rak'ah of Zuhr was about thirty verses, and in the next rak'ah about half that. They estimated his recitation in 'Asr at about half the amount of the last two rak'ahs of Zuhr.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source explicitly identifies thirty Badr veterans and reports their consensus estimate: about thirty verses in the first Zuhr rak'ah, half that in the next, and 'Asr at half the amount of the final two Zuhr rak'ahs.
وَقَاسُوا ذَلِكَ فِي صَلاَةِ الْعَصْرِ عَلَى قَدْرِ النِّصْفِ مِنَ الرَّكْعَتَيْنِ الأُخْرَيَيْنِ مِنَ الظُّهْرِ
The comparison refers to the amount in the last two Zuhr rak'ahs as a whole; the concise Arabic syntax could be parsed differently.
Is the 'Asr estimate half of the combined last two Zuhr rak'ahs or half of each one?
Chapter 8
الْجَهْرِ بِالآيَةِ أَحْيَانًا فِي صَلاَةِ الظُّهْرِ وَالْعَصْرِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Bishr ibn Hilal al-Sawwaf narrated to us: Yazid ibn Zuray' narrated to us: Hisham al-Dastawa'i narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from 'Abdullah ibn Abi Qatadah, from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite to us in the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr and would sometimes make a verse audible to us.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
'Uqbah ibn Mukram narrated to us: Salm ibn Qutaybah narrated to us, from Hashim ibn al-Barid, from Abu Ishaq, from al-Bara' ibn 'Azib, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to lead us in Zuhr, and we would hear from him a verse after verses from Surat Luqman and Surat al-Dhariyat.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The wording indicates hearing a verse after passages from Surat Luqman and al-Dhariyat; it does not specify the exact verse numbers.
Chapter 9
الْقِرَاءَةِ فِي صَلاَةِ الْمَغْرِبِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and Hisham ibn 'Ammar narrated to us; they said: Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, from 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah, from Ibn 'Abbas, from his mother—Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah said: ‘She is Lubabah’—who heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting Surat al-Mursalat in the Maghrib prayer.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The identification of the mother as Lubabah is an explicit compiler note within the source and is included in the translation.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah informed us: Sufyan informed us, from al-Zuhri, from Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mut'im, from his father, who said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting Surat al-Tur in the Maghrib prayer. Jubayr said in another report: When I heard him recite, ‘Were they created from nothing, or are they themselves the creators?’ through to ‘Let their listener bring a clear authority,’ my heart nearly flew.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The second sentence is explicitly introduced as being in another report and quotes a Quranic passage from Surat al-Tur; both the passage range and Jubayr's reaction are retained.
فَلَمَّا سَمِعْتُهُ يَقْرَأُ
The source marks this as a separate report by Jubayr, then gives a passage and his emotional reaction; the exact boundaries of the quoted recitation are compressed.
Should the quotation continue through the verse ending with ‘clear authority’ as rendered here?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn Budayl narrated to us: Hafs ibn Ghiyath narrated to us: 'Ubaydullah narrated to us, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite in the Maghrib prayer: ‘Say: O disbelievers’ and ‘Say: He is Allah, the One.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
These are the opening phrases of Surat al-Kafirun and Surat al-Ikhlas, respectively.
Chapter 10
الْقِرَاءَةِ فِي صَلاَةِ الْعِشَاءِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah informed us: Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah informed us. (A second route:) 'Abdullah ibn 'Amir ibn Zurarah narrated to us: Yahya ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Za'idah narrated to us. Both routes transmit from Yahya ibn Sa'id, from 'Adi ibn Thabit, from al-Bara' ibn 'Azib, that he prayed the later 'Isha prayer with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: I heard him reciting ‘By the fig and the olive.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source gives two routes converging at Yahya ibn Sa'id and refers to al-'Isha al-akhirah, the later/night prayer.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah informed us: Sufyan informed us. (A second route:) 'Abdullah ibn 'Amir ibn Zurarah narrated to us: Ibn Abi Za'idah narrated to us. Both routes transmit from Mis'ar, from 'Adi ibn Thabit, from al-Bara', with a similar report. He said: I have never heard anyone with a better voice or recitation than his.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This chain gives a similar version and adds al-Bara's praise of the Prophet's voice/recitation.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Ramh informed us: Al-Layth ibn Sa'd informed us, from Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir, that Mu'adh ibn Jabal led his companions in the 'Isha prayer and made it long for them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: ‘Recite “By the sun and its morning brightness,” “Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High,” “By the night when it covers,” and “Recite in the name of your Lord.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source lists four Quranic openings as examples of recitations for prayer; each is translated as the opening phrase of its passage.
Chapter 11
الْقِرَاءَةِ خَلْفَ الإِمَامِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hishām ibn ʿAmmār, Sahl ibn Abī Sahl, and Isḥāq ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us, all saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us, from al-Zuhrī, from Maḥmūd ibn al-Rabīʿ, from ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “There is no prayer for one who does not recite the Opening of the Book in it.”
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: Whoever performs a prayer without reciting the Opening of the Book in it, it is deficient, not complete. I said, Abu Hurayrah, sometimes I am behind the imam. He touched my arm and said, Persian, recite it quietly to yourself.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Khidaj denotes a deficient or incomplete prayer; the rendering preserves both expressions in the source.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Sa‘id reported that the Messenger of Allah said: There is no prayer for one who does not recite Praise be to Allah and a surah in every rak‘ah, whether in an obligatory prayer or another prayer.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source names al-Fatihah by its opening words, al-hamdu lillah; another prayer renders ghayriha.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Aishah said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: Any prayer in which the Mother of the Book is not recited is deficient.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Mother of the Book is a title for al-Fatihah; deficient renders khidaj.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abd Allah ibn Amr reported that the Messenger of Allah said: Any prayer in which the Opening of the Book is not recited is deficient—it is deficient.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic repeats fa-hiya khidaj twice; the repetition is retained.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu al-Darda said: A man asked him, Should I recite while the imam is reciting? He said: A man asked the Prophet, Is there recitation in every prayer? The Messenger of Allah replied, Yes. A man among the people then said, That has become obligatory.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic shifts from a question addressed to Abu al-Darda to a report of a question addressed to the Prophet; the shift is preserved as transmitted.