Prayer

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibnYaqub that Abu Said, the mawla of Amir ibn Kuraz told him that theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, calledtoUbayy ibn Kab while he was praying. When Ubayy had finished hisprayer he joined the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, and the Messenger of Allah put his hand upon his hand, andhe was intending to leave by the door of the mosque, so the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I hope thatyou will not leave the mosque until you know a sura whose like Allahhas notsentdown in the Tawrah nor in the Injil nor in the Qur'an."Ubayysaid, "I began to slow down my pace in the hope of that. Then Isaid, 'Messenger of Allah, the sura you promised me!' He said, 'Whatdo you recite when you begin the prayer?' I recited the Fatiha (Sura 1) until I came to the end of it, and the Messengerof Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, said, 'It is this sura, and it is the"seven oft-repeated" and the Great Qur'an which I was given.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Nuaym Wahb ibn Kaysanthat he heard Jabir ibn Abdullah say, "Someone who prays a rakawithout reciting the umm al-Qur'an in it has not done the prayerexcept behind an imam."

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibnYa'qub that he heard Abu's-Sa'ib, the mawla of Hisham ibn Zuhra, sayhe had heard Abu Hurayra say, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Whoever prays a prayerwithout reciting the umm al-Qur'an in it, his prayer is aborted, it isaborted, it is aborted, incomplete.' So I said, 'Abu Hurayra,sometimes I am behind the imam.'Hepulled my forearm and said, 'Reciteit to yourself, O Persian, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, say that Allah the Blessed, theExalted, said, "I have divided the prayer into two halves between meand my slave. One half of it is for Me and one half of it is for IVlyslave, and My slave has what he asks." ' The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Recite." The slave says,'Praise be to AIIah, the Lord of theWorlds.' Allah the Blessed, theExalted, says, 'My slave has praised Me.' The slave says, 'TheMerciful, the Compassionate.' Allah says, 'My slave has spoken well ofMe.' The slave says, 'Master of the Day of the Deen.' Allah says, 'Myslave has glorified Me.' The slave says, 'You alone we worship and Youalone we askforhelp.'Allahsays,'This ayat is between Me and My slave,and for My slave is what he asks. 'The slave says, 'Guide us in thestraight Path, the Path of those whom You have blessed, not of thosewith whom You are angry, nor those who are in error. ' Allah says,'These are for My slaves, and for my slave is what he asks . ' " ' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that hisfather used to recite behind the imam when the imam did not recitealoud.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said and from Rabiaibn Abi Abd ar Rahman that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad used to recite behindthe imam when the imam did not recite aloud.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Ruman that Nafi ibnJubayr ibn Mutim used to recite behind the imam when hedid not recitealoud .

Malik said, "That is the most preferable to me ofwhat I have heard about the matter."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar,when asked if anyone should recite behind an imam, said, "When youpray behind an imam then the recitation of the imam is enough for youand when you pray on your own you must recite." Nafi added, "Abdullahibn 'Umar used not to recite behind the imam."

Yahya saidthat he heard Malik say, "The position with us is that aman recitesbehind the imam when the imam does not recite aloud and he refrainsfrom reciting when the imam recites aloud."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ibn Ukaymaal-Laythi from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, finished a prayer in which he hadrecited aloud and asked, "Did any of you recite with me just now?" Oneman said, "Yes, I did, Messenger of Allah." The Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I was saying tomyself, 'Why am I distracted from the Qur'an?' " When the people heardthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saythat, they refrained from reciting with the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, when he recited aloud.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab and Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman told him from Abu Hurayrathat the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said, "When the imam says 'Amin', say 'Amin', for the one whose 'Amin'coincides with the 'Amin' of the angels - his previous wrong actionsare forgiven him."

Ibn Shihab said, "The Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say 'Aameen'(extending it)."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of AbuBakr, from Abu Salih as Samman, from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When the imamhas said, 'not of those with whom You are angry nor of those who arein error,' say 'Amin', for the previous wrong actions of the one whoseutterance coincides with that of the angels, are forgiven him."

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 one of you says 'Amin' and the angels in thesky say 'Amin' so that one coincides with the other, his previouswrong actions are forgiven him."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of AbuBakr, from Abu Salih as-Samman from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When the imamsays, 'Allah hears whoever praises Him,' say 'O Allah! Our Lord,praise be toYou, 'for the previous wrong actions done by the one whoseutterance coincides with that of the angels are forgiven."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muslim ibn Abi Maryam thatAIi ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Muawi said, "Abdullah ibn Umar saw me playingwith some small pebbles in the prayer. When I finished he forbade me,saying, 'Do as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, did.' I said, 'What did the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, do?' He said, 'When he sat in theprayer, he placed his right hand on his right thigh and he closed hisfist and pointed his index finger, and he placed his left hand on hisleft thigh. That is what he used to do.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar that hehad seen Abdullah ibn Umar with a man praying at his side. When theman sat in the fourth raka, heput both feet to one side and crossedthem. When Abdullah finished, he disapproved of that to him, and theman protested, "But you do the same." Abdullah ibn Umar said, "I amill."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sadaqa ibn Yasar that al-Mughira ibn Hakim saw Abdullah ibn Umar sit back from the two sajdasof the prayer onto the top of his feet. When he had finished, al-Mughira mentioned it to him, and Abdullah ibn Umar explained, "It isnot a sunna of the prayer. I do it because I am ill."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasimthat Abdullah ibn Umar told him that he used to see Abdullah ibn Umarcross his legs in the sitting position of the prayer.He said, "So Idid the same, and I was young at the time. Abdullah ibn Umar forbademe and said, 'The sunna of the prayer is that you keep your right footvertical and lay your left foot down.' I said to him, 'But you do thesame (as I did).' He said, 'My feet do not support me.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that al-Qasimibn Muhammad showed them how to sit in the tashahhud, and he kept hisright foot vertical and laid his left foot down, and sat on his lefthaunch not on his foot. Then he said, "Abdullah ibn Abdullah ibn Umarsaw me doing this and related to me that his father used to do thesame thing."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari that he heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say, while he was teaching people the tashahhud from themimbar, "Say, Greetings belong to Allah. Pure actions belong to Allah.Good words and prayers belong to Allah. Peace on you, Prophet, and themercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and on the slavesof Allah who are salihun. I testify that there is no god except Allah.And I testify that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger."

'At-tahiyatu lillah, az-zakiyatu lillah, at-tayibatu wa's-salawatulillah. As-salamu alayka ayyuha'nnabiyyu wa rahmatu'llahi wabarakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibadi'llahi s-salihin. Ash-hadu anla ilaha illa 'llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarused to say the tashahhud saying, "In the name of Allah. Greetingsbelong to Allah. Prayers belong to Allah. Pure actions belong toAllah. Peace be on the Prophet and the mercy of Allah and Hisblessings. Peace be on us and on the slaves of Allah who are salihun.I testify that there is no god except Allah. I testify that Muhammadis the Messenger of Allah."

"Bismillah, at-tahiyatu lillah,as-salawatu lillah, az-zakiyatu lillah. As-salamu ala'n-nabiyyi warahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa alaibadi'llahi's-salihin. Shahidtu an la ilaha illallah. Shahidtu annaMuhammadu'r-rasulu'llah."

He used to say this after the firsttwo rakas and he would make supplication with whatever seemed fit tohim when the tashahhud was completed. When he sat at the end of theprayer, he did the tashahhud in a similar manner, except that afterthe tashahhud he made supplication with whatever seemed fit to him.When he had completed the tashahhud and intended to say the taslim, hesaid, "Peace be on the Prophet and His mercy and blessings. Peace beupon us and on the slaves of Allah who are salihun."

"As-salamu ala'n-nabiyyi wa rahmatu'llahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alaynawa ala ibadi'llahi'ssalihin ."

He then said, "Peace be uponyou" to his right, and would return the greeting to the imam, and ifanyone said "Peace be upon you" from his left he would return thegreeting to him.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasimfrom his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, used to say in the tashahhud, "Greetings,good words, prayers, pure actions belong to Allah. I testify thatthere is no god except Allah, alone without partner, and that Muhammadis His slave and His Messenger. Peace be on you, Prophet, and themercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be on us and on the slaves ofAllah who are salihun. Peace be upon you."

"At-tahiyatu, at-tayibatu, as-salawatu, az-zakiyatu lillah. Ash-hadu an la ilahailla'llah, wahdahu la sharika lah wa anna Muhammadan abduhu warasuluhu. As-salamu alayka ayyuha-n-nabiyyu wa rahmatu-llahi wabarakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibadi-llahi's-salihin. As-salamualaykum."