Sunan Ibn Majah
Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them
كتاب إقامة الصلاة والسنة فيها
Chapter 15
رَفْعِ الْيَدَيْنِ إِذَا رَكَعَ وَإِذَا رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ مِنَ الرُّكُوعِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abbas ibn Sahl al-Saidi said: Abu Humayd, Abu Usayd al-Saidi, Sahl ibn Sad, and Muhammad ibn Maslamah gathered and discussed the prayer of the Messenger of Allah. Abu Humayd said: I know best among you how the Messenger of Allah prayed. The Messenger of Allah stood, said the takbir, and raised his hands. Then he raised them when saying the takbir for bowing. Then he stood, raised his hands, and stood upright until every bone returned to its place.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The expression says every bone returned to its place, describing a fully upright pause after bowing.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ali ibn Abi Talib said: When the Prophet stood for an obligatory prayer, he said the takbir and raised his hands until they were level with his shoulders. When he intended to bow, he did the same; when he raised his head from bowing, he did the same; and when he stood after the two prostrations, he did the same.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic specifies the obligatory prayer and raising hands on rising after the two prostrations.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah used to raise his hands at every takbir.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source says at every takbir.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Anas reported that the Messenger of Allah used to raise his hands when he entered the prayer and when he bowed.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Wail ibn Hujr said: I said, I will watch the Messenger of Allah and see how he prays. He stood facing the qiblah and raised his hands until they were level with his ears. When he bowed, he raised them in the same way; when he raised his head from bowing, he raised them in the same way.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic source describes the hands as reaching the level of his ears.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Jabir ibn Abd Allah, when he began the prayer, used to raise his hands; when he bowed and when he raised his head from bowing, he did the same. He said: I saw the Messenger of Allah do the same. Ibrahim ibn Tahman raised his hands to his ears.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final sentence describes Ibrahim ibn Tahman raising his own hands to his ears.
Chapter 16
الرُّكُوعِ فِي الصَّلاَةِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aishah said: When the Messenger of Allah bowed, he did not raise his head or lower it, but kept it between those positions.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report describes a level, balanced head position while bowing.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Masud reported that the Messenger of Allah said: A prayer is not sufficient if a man does not straighten his back during bowing and prostration.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source states a condition for a sufficient prayer.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ali ibn Shayban, who was among the delegation, said: We set out and came to the Messenger of Allah, pledged allegiance to him, and prayed behind him. He glanced from the corner of his eye at a man who was not straightening his prayer—that is, his back—during bowing and prostration. When the Prophet had finished the prayer, he said: O Muslims, there is no prayer for one who does not straighten his back during bowing and prostration.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The chain has an irregular punctuation break after “from his father,” followed by Ali ibn Shayban; this rendering follows the apparent narrator identification in the text. “He glanced from the corner of his eye” renders lamaha bi-muakhkhari aynihi.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Wabisah ibn Mabad said: I saw the Messenger of Allah praying. When he bowed, he made his back straight, so that if water were poured on it, it would remain there.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report uses a vivid image to describe the straightness of his back while bowing.
Chapter 17
وَضْعِ الْيَدَيْنِ عَلَى الرُّكْبَتَيْنِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Musab ibn Sad said: I bowed beside my father and performed tatbiq. He struck my hand and said: We used to do this, then we were commanded to place our hands on our knees.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Tatbiq is retained as a technical term for the earlier hand posture; the source then explicitly says they were commanded to place their hands at the knees.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aishah said: When the Messenger of Allah bowed, he placed his hands on his knees and held his upper arms away from his sides.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final verb describes keeping the upper arms apart from the body.
Chapter 18
مَا يَقُولُ إِذَا رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ مِنَ الرُّكُوعِ
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, whenever he said, Allah hears whoever praises Him, would say, Our Lord, to You belongs all praise.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The chain lists Said ibn al-Musayyab and Abu Salama ibn Abd al-Rahman, followed by Abu Hurayrah; punctuation in the Arabic around Abu Salama is irregular, and the likely name grouping is reflected here.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Anas ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah said: When the imam says, Allah hears whoever praises Him, say, Our Lord, to You belongs all praise.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This wording instructs the congregation to say Rabbana wa laka al-hamd after the imam.
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Abu Said al-Khudri reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah say: When the imam says, Allah hears whoever praises Him, say, O Allah, our Lord, to You belongs all praise.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This wording includes the invocation Allahumma, rendered “O Allah.”
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn Abi Awfa said: When the Prophet raised his head from bowing, he would say: Allah hears whoever praises Him. O Allah, our Lord, to You belongs all praise, filling the heavens, filling the earth, and filling whatever else You will.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The supplication expands the praise to the measure of the heavens, the earth, and whatever else Allah wills.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Juhayfah said: People mentioned fortunes in the presence of the Messenger of Allah while he was praying. One man said: So-and-so has his fortune in horses. Another said: So-and-so has his fortune in camels. Another said: So-and-so has his fortune in sheep. Another said: So-and-so has his fortune in enslaved people. When the Messenger of Allah had completed his prayer and raised his head at the end of the final rakah, he said: O Allah, our Lord, to You belongs all praise, filling the heavens, filling the earth, and filling whatever else You will. O Allah, none can withhold what You give, none can give what You withhold, and neither wealth nor fortune benefits its possessor before You. The Messenger of Allah prolonged the sound of the word jadd so that they would know it was not as they said.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The chain is Ismail ibn Musa al-Suddi, from Sharik, from Abu Umar, who said he heard Abu Juhayfah. Jadd is rendered as fortune/wealth in the supplication; its repetition and the report about lengthening the sound indicate deliberate wordplay, but the precise contrast is uncertain.
جَدُّ فُلاَنٍ فِي الْخَيْلِ
Jadd can denote fortune, wealth, or status; the report later plays on this term in the supplication.
Which English rendering best preserves the repeated sense and wordplay in this passage?
Chapter 19
السُّجُودِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Maymunah reported that when the Prophet prostrated, he held his arms away from his sides, so that if a young sheep had wanted to pass beneath his arms, it could have done so.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report uses the space beneath his arms to emphasize how far he held them from his body.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abd Allah ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Aqram al-Khuzai reported from his father, who said: I was with my father on the plain at Namirah when a party of riders passed us and made their mounts kneel by the side of the road. My father said to me: Stay with your livestock until I go to these people and ask them about something. He went out, and I came closer; there I found the Messenger of Allah. The time for prayer came, so I prayed with them. I kept looking at the whiteness beneath the armpits of the Messenger of Allah whenever he prostrated.
Ibn Majah said: People say Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah. Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah said: People say Abd Allah ibn Ubayd Allah.
Muhammad ibn Bashshar said: Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, Safwan ibn Isa, and Abu Dawud all narrated to us from Dawud ibn Qays, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah ibn Aqram, from his father, from the Prophet, with similar wording.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The first chain names Abd Allah ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Aqram, while the compiler note records a name-order variant; the alternative chain gives Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah ibn Aqram. The source phrase about the armpits is rendered as whiteness, in line with the Arabic wording and the secondary English witness.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Wail ibn Hujr said: I saw the Prophet, when he prostrated, place his knees before his hands; and when he rose from prostration, raise his hands before his knees.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The sequence is stated as knees before hands when descending and hands before knees when rising.