Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

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Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Sulami narrated to us; Khalid ibn Makhlad narrated to us; Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Mawal said: I heard Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir narrate from Jabir ibn Abdullah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to teach us the prayer for seeking guidance (istikharah) just as he taught us a surah of the Qur’an. He would say: ‘When one of you is considering a matter, let him pray two rak‘ahs other than the obligatory prayer, then say: “O Allah, I seek what is good from You by Your knowledge, and I seek ability from You by Your power, and I ask You from Your immense bounty. You have power and I have none; You know and I do not know, and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know this matter”—and he names whatever the matter is—“to be good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the outcome of my affair”—or he said, “good for me in my immediate and future affairs”—“then decree it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. And if You know”—he said words like those he had said the first time—“that it is bad for me, then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, decree good for me wherever it may be, and then make me content with it.”’

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Suwayd ibn Sa‘id narrated to us; Abu Asim al-Abbadani narrated to us, from Fa’id ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa al-Aslami, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us and said: ‘Whoever has a need from Allah or from any of His creation, let him perform ablution and pray two rak‘ahs, then say: “There is no god but Allah, the Forbearing, the Generous. Glory be to Allah, Lord of the Mighty Throne. Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds. O Allah, I ask You for that which makes Your mercy due, for the firm means of Your forgiveness, for a share of every good deed, and for safety from every sin. I ask You to leave me no sin without forgiving it, no distress without relieving it, and no need that is pleasing to You without fulfilling it for me. Then let him ask Allah for whatever he wishes of the affairs of this world and the Hereafter, for it will be decreed.”’

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Ahmad ibn Mansur ibn Sayyar narrated to us; Uthman ibn Umar narrated to us; Shu‘bah narrated to us, from Abu Ja‘far al-Madani, from ‘Umarah ibn Khuzaymah ibn Thabit, from Uthman ibn Hunayf, that a blind man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, ‘Pray to Allah to grant me well-being.’ He said, ‘If you wish, I can defer it for you, and that is better; or, if you wish, I can supplicate.’ He said, ‘Supplicate for me.’ So he instructed him to perform ablution and do it well, pray two rak‘ahs, and make this supplication: ‘O Allah, I ask You and turn to You by Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy. O Muhammad, I have turned by you to my Lord regarding this need of mine, that it may be fulfilled. O Allah, accept his intercession for me.’

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Musa ibn Abd al-Rahman Abu ‘Isa al-Masruqi narrated to us; Zayd ibn al-Hubab narrated to us; Musa ibn Ubaydah narrated to us; Sa‘id ibn Abi Sa‘id, the freedman of Abu Bakr ibn Amr ibn Hazm, narrated to me, from Abu Rafi‘, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to al-Abbas, ‘Uncle, shall I give you a gift, benefit you, and maintain kinship with you?’ He replied, ‘Yes indeed, Messenger of Allah.’ He said: ‘Pray four rak‘ahs. In each rak‘ah recite the Opening of the Book and a surah. When you finish the recitation, say “Glory be to Allah, praise belongs to Allah, there is no god but Allah, and Allah is greatest” fifteen times before bowing. Then bow and say it ten times; raise your head and say it ten times; prostrate and say it ten times; raise your head and say it ten times; prostrate and say it ten times; then raise your head and say it ten times before standing. That is seventy-five in each rak‘ah and three hundred in four rak‘ahs. Even if your sins were like the sands of Alij, Allah would forgive them for you.’ He asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, what if someone cannot say it in one day?’ He replied, ‘Say it in a week; if you cannot, say it in a month,’ until he said, ‘Then say it in a year.’

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Abd al-Rahman ibn Bishr ibn al-Hakam al-Naysaburi narrated to us; Musa ibn Abd al-Aziz narrated to us; al-Hakam ibn Aban narrated to us, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib: ‘Abbas, my uncle, shall I give you something? Shall I grant you a gift? Shall I show you special favor? Shall I do for you ten things? If you do them, Allah will forgive your sins: the first and the last, the old and the recent, the mistaken and the deliberate, the small and the great, the secret and the open. The ten things are these: pray four rak‘ahs, reciting the Opening of the Book and a surah in each rak‘ah. When you finish reciting in the first rak‘ah, while standing, say “Glory be to Allah, praise belongs to Allah, there is no god but Allah, and Allah is greatest” fifteen times. Then bow and say it ten times while bowing; raise your head from bowing and say it ten times; go down in prostration and say it ten times while prostrating; raise your head from prostration and say it ten times; prostrate again and say it ten times; then raise your head from prostration and say it ten times. That makes seventy-five in each rak‘ah. Do this in all four rak‘ahs. If you can pray them once every day, do so; if not, then once every Friday; if not, then once every month; and if not, then once in your lifetime.’

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Al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Khallal narrated to us; Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us; Ibn Abi Sabrah informed us, from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, from Mu‘awiyah ibn Abdullah ibn Ja‘far, from his father, from Ali ibn Abi Talib, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘When it is the middle night of Sha‘ban, stand in prayer during its night and fast during its day. For Allah descends at sunset on that night to the lowest heaven and says: “Is there anyone seeking forgiveness, that I may forgive him? Is there anyone seeking provision, that I may provide for him? Is there anyone afflicted, that I may grant him well-being? Is there anyone with such-and-such need?”’ until dawn breaks.

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‘Abdah ibn Abdullah al-Khuza‘i and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik Abu Bakr narrated to us. They said: Yazid ibn Harun informed us; Hajjaj narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from ‘Urwah, from ‘A’ishah, who said: One night I could not find the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so I went out looking for him. There he was at al-Baqi‘, raising his head toward the sky. He said, ‘‘A’ishah, were you afraid that Allah and His Messenger would deal unjustly with you?’ She said, ‘That was not my concern, but I thought you had gone to one of your wives.’ He said, ‘Allah, Exalted is He, descends on the middle night of Sha‘ban to the lowest heaven and forgives more than the number of hairs on the sheep of Kalb.’

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Rashid ibn Sa‘id ibn Rashid al-Ramli narrated to us; al-Walid narrated to us, from Ibn Lahi‘ah, from al-Dahhak ibn Ayman, from al-Dahhak ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Arzab, from Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: ‘On the middle night of Sha‘ban, Allah looks upon all His creation and forgives them all except a polytheist or one who harbors enmity.’

Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated to us; Abu al-Aswad al-Nadr ibn Abd al-Jabbar narrated to us; Ibn Lahi‘ah narrated to us, from al-Zubayr ibn Sulaym, from al-Dahhak ibn Abd al-Rahman, from his father, who said: I heard Abu Musa report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) something similar.

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Abu Bishr Bakr ibn Khalaf narrated to us; Salamah ibn Raja‘ narrated to us; Sha‘tha narrated to me, from Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed two rak‘ahs on the day he was given the glad tidings of the head of Abu Jahl.

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Yahya ibn Uthman ibn Salih al-Misri informed us; my father informed us; Ibn Lahi‘ah informed us, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Amr ibn al-Walid ibn Abdah al-Sahmi, from Anas ibn Malik, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) received glad tidings of a need and fell down prostrating.

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Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us; Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, from Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhri, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Ka‘b ibn Malik, from his father, who said: When Allah accepted his repentance, he fell down in prostration.

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‘Abdah ibn Abdullah al-Khuza‘i and Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Sulami narrated to us. They said: Abu Asim narrated to us, from Bakkar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Bakrah, from his father, from Abu Bakrah, that when something pleasing came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or he was given glad tidings of it, he would fall down in prostration in gratitude to Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

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Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and Nasr ibn Ali narrated to us. They said: Waki‘ narrated to us; Mis‘ar and Sufyan narrated to us, from Uthman ibn al-Mughirah al-Thaqafi, from Ali ibn Rabi‘ah al-Walibi, from Asma’ ibn al-Hakam al-Fazari, from Ali ibn Abi Talib, who said: When I heard a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Allah benefited me with whatever He willed from it. If someone else narrated from him to me, I would make that person swear an oath; when he swore, I believed him. Abu Bakr narrated to me, and Abu Bakr spoke the truth. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘There is no man who commits a sin, then performs ablution and does it well, then prays two rak‘ahs—Mis‘ar said, “then prays”—and seeks Allah’s forgiveness, without Allah forgiving him.’

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Muhammad ibn Rumh narrated to us; al-Layth ibn Sa‘d informed us, from Abu al-Zubayr, from Sufyan ibn Abdullah—I think he said—from Asim ibn Sufyan al-Thaqafi, that they went on the expedition of al-Salasil, but missed the campaign, so they remained stationed on the frontier. Then they returned to Mu‘awiyah, with Abu Ayyub and ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir present. Asim said, ‘Abu Ayyub, we missed the campaign this year, and we have been told that whoever prays in the four mosques will have his sin forgiven.’ He replied, ‘Nephew, shall I point you to something easier than that? I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “Whoever performs ablution as he was commanded and prays as he was commanded will be forgiven for what he has done.”’ He then asked, ‘Is that so, ‘Uqbah?’ He said, ‘Yes.’

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Abdullah ibn Abi Ziyad narrated to us; Ya‘qub ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa‘d narrated to us; my nephew, Ibn Shihab, narrated to me, from his uncle. Salih ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Farwah narrated to me that Amir ibn Sa‘d informed him: I heard Aban ibn Uthman say that Uthman said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘Consider: if there were a flowing river in the courtyard of one of you, and he bathed in it five times every day, would any dirt remain on him?’ He replied, ‘Nothing would remain.’ He said, ‘Prayer removes sins just as water removes dirt.’

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Sufyan ibn Waki‘ narrated to us; Isma‘il ibn ‘Ulayyah narrated to us, from Sulayman al-Taymi, from Abu Uthman al-Nahdi, from Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, that a man had done something with a woman—meaning something short of indecency; I do not know how far it went, except that it was short of illicit intercourse. He came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him about it. Then Allah, Glorified is He, revealed: ‘Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and during portions of the night. Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.’ The man said, ‘Messenger of Allah, is this for me?’ He replied, ‘It is for whoever acts upon it.’

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Harmalah ibn Yahya al-Misri narrated to us; Abdullah ibn Wahb narrated to us; Yunus ibn Yazid informed me, from Ibn Shihab, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Allah prescribed fifty prayers for my community.’ I returned with that until I came to Moses. Moses asked, ‘What has your Lord prescribed for your community?’ I replied, ‘He prescribed fifty prayers for me.’ He said, ‘Go back to your Lord, for your community cannot bear that.’ I returned to my Lord, and He removed half of them from me. I went back to Moses and told him. He said, ‘Go back to your Lord, for your community cannot bear that.’ I returned to my Lord, and He said, ‘They are five, yet they are fifty; My word does not change.’ I returned to Moses, and he said, ‘Go back to your Lord.’ I said, ‘I am now too shy before my Lord.’’

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Abu Bakr ibn Khallad al-Bahili narrated to us; Abu al-Walid narrated to us; Sharik narrated to us, from Abdullah ibn Usm Abu ‘Ulwan, from Ibn Abbas, who said: Your Prophet was commanded to perform fifty prayers, then he negotiated with your Lord until He made them five prayers.

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Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us; Ibn Abi ‘Adi narrated to us, from Shu‘bah, from Abd Rabbih ibn Sa‘id, from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban, from Ibn Muhayriz, from al-Mukhaddiji, from ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘Allah has prescribed five prayers for His servants. Whoever performs them without diminishing any of them by taking their due lightly will have a covenant from Allah that He will admit him to Paradise on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever performs them but diminishes something of them by taking their due lightly will have no covenant with Allah: if He wills, He will punish him; and if He wills, He will forgive him.’

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‘Isa ibn Hammad al-Misri narrated to us; al-Layth ibn Sa‘d informed us, from Sa‘id al-Maqburi, from Sharik ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Namir, who said that he heard Anas ibn Malik say: While we were sitting in the mosque, a man entered riding a mount. He made it kneel in the mosque and tethered it, then asked them, ‘Which of you is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah?’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was reclining among them. They said, ‘That fair-skinned man reclining there.’ The man said to him, ‘O son of Abd al-Muttalib.’ The Prophet said, ‘I am here; I have answered you.’ The man said, ‘Muhammad, I am going to question you insistently, so do not take offense at me.’ He replied, ‘Ask whatever you wish.’ The man said, ‘I adjure you by your Lord and the Lord of those before you: has Allah sent you to all people?’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘O Allah, yes.’ He asked, ‘I adjure you by Allah: did Allah command you to pray the five prayers each day and night?’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘O Allah, yes.’ He asked, ‘I adjure you by Allah: did Allah command you to fast this month of the year?’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘O Allah, yes.’ He asked, ‘I adjure you by Allah: did Allah command you to take this alms from our wealthy and distribute it among our poor?’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘O Allah, yes.’ The man said, ‘I believe in what you have brought, and I am the envoy of those of my people who are behind me. I am Dimam ibn Tha‘labah, the brother of Banu Sa‘d ibn Bakr.’