Prayer

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr that aman from the Ansar was praying in a garden of his in Quff, one of thevalleys of Madina, during the date season and the palms' branches wereweighed down with fruit on all sides. He looked at them and what hesaw of their fruits amazed him. Then he went back to his prayer and hedid not know how much he had prayed. He said, "A trial has befallen mein this property of mine." So he went toUthman ibn Affan, who was thekhalifa at the time, and mentioned it to him and said, "It is sadaqa,so give it away in the paths of good." Uthman ibn Affan sold it forfifty thousand and so that property became known as the Fifty.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, hadwanted to take two pieces of wood to strike them together to gatherpeople for the prayer, and Abdullah ibn Zayd al-Ansari, then of thetribe of Harith ibn al-Khazraj, was shown two pieces of wood in hissleep. He said, 'These are close to what the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, wants.' Then it was said, 'Doyou not call to the prayer?', so when he woke up he went to theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, andmentioned the dream to him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, ordered the adhan."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ata ibn Yazidal-Laythi from Abu Said al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When you hear the adhan,repeat what the muadhdhin says."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakribn Abd ar-Rahman, from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If people knew what was inthe adhan and the first row of the prayer and could only draw lots forit, they would draw lots. And if they knew what was in doing dhuhrearly, they would race each other to it. And if they knew what was inisha and subh, they would go to them even if they had to crawl."

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibnYaqub from his father and Ishaq ibn Abdullah that they informed himthat they heard Abu Hurayra say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, said, 'When the iqama is called forprayer, do not come to it running, but come with calmness. Pray whatyou catch and complete what you miss. You are in prayer as long asyour aim is the prayer.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd arRahman ibn Abdullah ibnAbd ar-Rahman ibn Abu Sasaca al-Ansari, and later al-Mazini, that hisfather told him that Abu Said al-Khudri had said to him, "I see thatyou love sheep and the desert. When you are among your sheep or inyour desert, call the prayer and raise your voice in the adhan,because I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, say, 'No jinn or man or anything within range hears thevoice of the muadhdhin except that it bears witness for him on the dayof rising.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj fromAbu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "When the call to prayer is made Shaytan retreats,passing wind, so that he will not hear the adhan. When the adhan iscompleted he comes back, until, when the iqama is said, he retreatsagain. When the iqama is completed, he comes back, until he comesbetween a man and his self and says, 'Think of such and such, think ofsuch and such,' which he was not thinking about before, until the mandoes not know how much he has prayed."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Hazim ibn Dinar that Sahlibn Sad as-Saidi said, "There are two times when the gates of heavenare opened, and few who make supplication have it returned to themunanswered. They are at the timeof the adhan, and in a rank of peoplefighting in the way of Allah."

Malik was asked whether theadhan on the day of jumua was called before the time had come for theprayer and he said, "It is not called until after the sun has passedthe meridian."

Malik was asked about doubling the adhan andthe iqama, and at what point people had to stand when the iqama forthe prayer was called. He said, "I have heard nothing about the adhanand iqama except what I have seen people do. As for the iqama, it isnot doubled. That is what the people of knowledge in our regioncontinue to do. As for people standing up when the iqama for theprayer is called, I have not heard of any definite point at which itis begun, and I consider it rather to be according to people's(individual) capacity, for some people are heavy and some are light,and they are not able to be as one man ."

Malik was askedabout a gathering of people who wished to do the prescribed prayercalling the iqama and not the adhan, and he said, "lt is enough forthem. The adhan is only obligatory in mosques where the prayer is saidin congregation."

Malik was asked about the muadhdhin saying"Peace be upon you" to the imam and calling him to the prayer, and hewas asked who was the first person to whom such a greeting was made.He replied, "I have not heard that this greeting occurred in the firstcommunity."

Yahya said that Malik was asked whether amuadhdhin who called the people to prayer and then waited to see ifanyone would come and no one did, so he said the iqama and did theprayer by himself and then people came after he had finished, shouldrepeat the prayer with them. Malik said, "He does not repeat theprayer, and whoever comes after he has finished should do the prayerby himself."

Yahya said that Malik was asked about amuadhdhin who called the adhan for a group of people, did voluntaryprayers, and then the group of people wanted to do the prayer withsome one else saying the iqama. He said, "There is no harm in that.His iqama or somebody else's are the same."

Yahya said thatMalik said, "The subh prayer is still called before dawn. As for theother prayers, we believe that they should only be called after thetime has started."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that themuadhdhin came to Umar ibn al-Khattab to call him to the subh prayerand found him sleeping, so he said, "Prayer is better than sleep," andUmar ordered him to put that in the adhan for subh .

Yahya related to me from Malik from his paternal uncle Abu Suhaylibn Malik that his uncle's father said, "I recognise nothing nowadaysof what I saw the people (i.e. the companions of the Messenger, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace ) doing except the call toprayer."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Umar heard theiqama while he was in Baqi, so he increased his pace of walking to themosque.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarcalled the adhan on a cold and windy night and included the phrase,"Do the prayer in shelter." Then he said, "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, used to orderthe muadhdhin tosay, 'Do the prayerin shelter' when it was a cold, rainy night "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that on a journeyAbdullah ibn Umar did no more than the iqama, except for subh, when hecalled both the adhan and the iqama. Abdullah ibn Umar used to say,"The adhan is for an imam whom people join ."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that hisfather said to him, "When you are on a journey you can, if you wish,call the adhan and the iqama, or, if you wish, the iqama and not theadhan."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "There is no harmin a man calling the adhan while riding."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibnal-Musayyab used to say, "Whoever prays on waterless, desolate land -an angel prays on his right and an angel prays on his left. When hecalls both the adhan and the iqama for the prayer, or calls out theiqama, angels like mountains pray behind him."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar fromAbdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, said, "Bilal calls the adhan whilst it is still nightso eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktum calls the adhan."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim ibnAbdullah that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "Bilal calls the adhan in the night, so eat and drinkuntil Ibn Umm Maktum calls the adhan." Ibn Umm Maktum was a blind manwho did not call the adhan until someone said to him, "The morning hascome. The morning has come."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim ibnAbdullah from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messengerof Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, used to raise his hands to the level ofhis shoulders when he began the prayer and when he raised his headfrom the ruku he raised them in the same way, saying, "Allah hearswhoever praises him, our Lord and praise belongs to You." He did notraise them in the sujud.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that AIi ibnHusayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, used to say, 'Allah is greater'whenever he lowered himself and raised himself, and he continued topray like that until he met Al lah ."