Prayer in Congregation

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, came out during his illness, and approached and found Abu Bakrstanding, leading the people in prayer. Abu Bakr began to go back, butthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,indicated to him to stay where he was. The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, sat by the side of Abu Bakr, andAbu Bakr prayed following the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, who was sitting, and the peopleprayed following the prayer of Abu Bakr.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ismail ibn Muhammad ibn Saidibn Abi Waqqas from a mawla of Amr ibn al-As or of Abdullah ibn Amribn al-As that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "The prayer of one of you sitting down is only equalto half the prayer of one of you when he is standing."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Abdullah ibnAmr ibn al As said, "When we arrived at Madina we were struck down bya severe epidemic which debilitated us greatly. The Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came out to the peoplewhile they were praying nawafil prayers sitting down. The Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The prayer ofthe one sitting is equal to only half the prayer of the one standing.'"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from as-Sa'ib ibnYazid from al Muttalib ibn Abi Wadaa as-Sahmi that Hafsa, the wife ofthe Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I neversaw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,praying nawafil sitting, until a year before his death, when he beganto pray them sitting. He would recite the sura with a measuredslowness so that it would seem to be longer than other suras whichwere actually longer than it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, told him that she had never seen the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, doing night prayerssitting down until he was getting on in years. He would recite sittingdown until when he wanted to go into ruku, he would stand up andrecite about thirty or forty ayats and then go into ruku.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Yazid al-Madaniand from Abu'n Nadr from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman from A'isha, thewife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used topray sitting. He would recite sitting, and then, when about thirty orforty ayats of what he was reciting remained, he would stand up andrecite standing and then go into ruku and sajda. He would do the samein the second raka.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Urwa ibnaz-Zubayr and Said ibn al-Musayyab used to pray voluntary prayerssitting.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from al-Qaqaibn Hakim that Abu Yunus, the mawla of A'isha, umm al-muminin said,''A'isha ordered me to write out a Qur'an for her. She said, 'Whenyou reach this ayat, let me know, "Guard the prayers carefully and themiddle prayer and stand obedient to Allah." ' When I reached it I toldher, and she dictated to me, 'Guard the prayers carefully and themiddle prayer and the asr prayer and stand obedient to Allah.' A'ishasaid, 'I heard it from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Amr ibnRafi said, "I was writing a Qur'an for Hafsa, umm al-muminin, and shesaid, 'When you reach this ayat, let me know, "Guard the prayerscarefully and the middle prayer and stand obedient to Allah." When Ireached it I told her and she dictated to me, 'Guard the prayerscarefully and the middle prayer and the asr prayer and stand obedientto Allah.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Da'ud ibn al-Husayn that IbnYarbu al-Makhzumi said, "I heard Zayd ibn Thabit say, 'The middleprayer is the prayer of dhuhr.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that AIi ibn AbiTalib and Abdullah ibn Abbas used to say, "The middle prayer is theprayer of subh."

Malik said, "Out of all that I have heardabout the matter, I prefer what Ali ibn Abi Talib and Abdullah ibnAbbas said."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that Umar ibn Abi Salama saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, praying in one garment in the house ofUmm Salama. He was completely covered by it, and had put both endsover his shoulders.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Hurayra that some one asked the Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace about praying in one garment.The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"Do you all have two garments?"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al-Musayyab said that Abu Hurayra was asked, "May a man pray in onegarment?" He said, "Yes." The man then said to him "Do you do that?"and he replied, "Yes, I pray in one garment while my clothes are onthe clothes-rack."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Jabir ibnAbdullah used to pray in one garment.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahmanthat Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm used to pray in a single long shirt.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard from Jabir ibnAbdullah that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "Let anyone who cannot find two garments pray in onegarment and wrap himself in it, and if the garment is short, let himwrap it around his waist."

Malik said, "In my view it ispreferable for someone who prays in a single shirt to put a garment ora turban over his shoulders."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that A'isha, thewife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used topray in a shift and head-covering.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn Zayd ibn Qunfudhthat his mother asked Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, "What clothes can a woman wear inprayer?" She said, "She can pray in a shift that reaches down andcovers the top of her feet."

Yahya related to me from Malik from a reliable source from Bukayribn Abdullah ibn al-Ashajj from Busr ibn Said that when Ubaydullah ibnal-Aswad al-Khawlani was in the room of Maimuna, the wife of theProphet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, she used to pray ina shift and head-covering, without a waist-wrapper.