“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘The peopleshould be lead by the one who is most well-Versed in recitation oftheBook of Allah. If they are equal in recitation, then they shouldbeled by the one who emigrated first. If they are equal inemigration,then they should be led by the eldest. A man should notbe led amonghis family or in his place of authority; no one shouldbe sat in hisplace of honor in his house without permission, orwithout hispermission.’”

“Sahl bin Sa’d As-Sa’idi used to give preference totheyoung to lead his people in prayer. It was said to him: “Do you dothat, when you have such seniority (in Islam)?” He said: “I heardtheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘The Imam is responsible. If hedoeswell, then he will have the reward and so will they, but if hedoesbadly, then that will be counted against him but not againstthem.’”

“Iheard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: ‘A time will come when the people willstand for a long time and will not be able to find any Imam to leadthem in prayer.”

“Youarethe most deserving of that, you were the Companion of theMessenger ofAllah (ﷺ).” But he refused and said: “I heard theMessenger of Allah(ﷺ) say: ‘Whoever leads the people and gets itright, the prayerwill be for him and for them, but if he fallsshort, then that will becounted against him but not against them.”

“When you lead people,keepit short for them.”

“The Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) said: ‘I hear an infant crying so I make the prayershort.’”

It wasnarrated from ‘Irbad bin Sariyah that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)used to ask for forgiveness for the first row three times andfor thesecond row twice.

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘If they knew what (goodness) there is in the first row, theywould cast lots for it.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘The best rows for women are the back rows, and the worst arethe front rows, and the best rows for men are the front rows, and theworst are the back rows.’”

“We set outuntil wecame to the Prophet (ﷺ). We gave him our oath ofallegiance andperformed prayer behind him. Then we offered anotherprayer behindhim. He finished the prayer and saw a man on his own,praying behindthe row.” He said: “The Prophet of Allah (ﷺ)stood beside him andwhen he finished he said: ‘Repeat your prayer;there is no prayer forthe one who is behind the row.’”

“It was said to the Prophet(ﷺ):‘The left side of the mosque has been abandoned. The Prophet(ﷺ)said: “Whoever frequents the left side of the mosque, two Kifl*ofreward will be recorded for him.”

“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)finished Tawaf around the House (the Ka’bah), he came to Maqam ofIbrahim (the Station of Ibrahim). ‘Umar said: ‘O Messenger ofAllah,this is the Station of our father Ibrahim about which Allahsaid: “Andtake you (people) the Maqam of Ibrahim as a place ofprayer.’” [2:125]

“We prayed with the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) facing towards Baitul-Maqdis (Jerusalem) for eighteenmonths,then the Qiblah was changed to the Ka’bah two months after theProphet (ﷺ) entered Al-Madinah. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)prayed towards Baitul-Maqdis, he would often lift his face towardstheheavens, and Allah knew what was in the heart of His Prophet andhowhe longed to face the Ka’bah (during prayer). Jibril appeared(in thesky), and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) started watching himas he wasdescending between the heavens and the earth, waiting tosee what hewould bring. Then Allah revealed the words: ‘Verily, Wehave seen theturning of your face towards the heaven. Surely, Weshall turn you toa Qiblah that shall please you, so turn your facein the direction ofAl-Masjid Al-Haram (at Makkah). And wherever youpeople are, turn yourfaces (during prayer) in that direction.’[2:144] Then someone came tous and said: ‘The Qiblah has beenchanged to the Ka’bah.’ We hadperformed two Rak’ah facingtowards Jerusalem. And we were bowing. Sowe turned around, and wecontinued our prayer. The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: ‘O Jibril!What about our prayer facing towards Baitul-Maqdis?’ Then Allahrevealed the words: “And Allah would never makeyour faith to belost.” [2:143]

“On rainy nights or on coldwindynights, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would summon his announcertocall out: ‘Perform your prayer at your camps.’”

“Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Ashhadu an lailahaillallah, Ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah (Allah is the MostGreat,Allah is Most Great, I bear witness that none has the right tobeworshipped but Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is theMessenger ofAllah).” Then he (Ibn ‘Abbas) said: “Proclaim tothe people that theyshould pray in their houses.” The people saidto him: “What is thisthat you have done?” He said: “One who isbetter than me did that. Areyou telling me that I should bring thepeople out of their houses andmake them come to me wading throughthe mud up to their knees?”

“What did you hear from theProphet(ﷺ) about a man when he is performing prayer?” He said: “Iheard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying: ‘If anyone of you knew (how greatisthe sin involved) when he passed in front of his brother who isperforming prayer, then waiting for forty’,” (one of thenarrators)said: “I do not know if he meant forty years, fortymonths, or fortydays, ‘would be better for him than that.”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Ifanyone of you knew (how great is the sin involved) in passing infrontof his brother while he is performing prayer, waiting for onehundredyears would be better for him than one step that he takes.’”

“The prayer is severed by a woman, a dog and a donkey.”

“The prayer is severed by a woman, a donkey, and ablack dog, if there is not something like the handle of a saddle infront of a man.” I (‘Abdullah) said: “What is wrong with ablack dogand not a red one?” He (Abu Dharr) said: ‘I asked theMessenger ofAllah (ﷺ) the same question, and he said: “The blackdog is aShaitan (satan).”

‘Mention was made in thepresence of Ibn ‘Abbas about what severs the prayer. They mentionedadog, a donkey and a woman. He said: ‘What do you say about kids(younggoats)? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was performing prayer oneday,when a kid came and wanted to pass in front of him. TheMessenger ofAllah (ﷺ) preceded it toward the Qiblah. (to tightenthe space andprevent it from passing in front of him).’”