Shortening the Prayer

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarpassed by a man who was praying and said, "Peace be upon you," and theman replied to him. Abdullah ibn Umar returned to him and said, "Whensomeone says, 'Peace be upon you' to you while you are praying do notreply, but give a signal with your hand."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarused to say, "Someone who only remembers that he has forgotten aprayer when he is praying the next prayer behind an imam, should praythe prayer he has forgotten after the imam has said the taslim, andthen pray the other one again."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Muhammadibn Yahya ibn Habban that his paternal uncle Wasi ibn Habban said, "Iwas praying, and Abdullah ibn Umar was resting his back on the wall ofthe qibla. When I had finished the prayer I turned towards him on myleft hand side. Abdullah ibn Umar said, 'What stopped you from turningaway to your right?' I replied, 'I saw you and turned towards you.'Abdullah said, 'You have spoken correctly. People say that you shouldturn away to your right, but when you pray, you can turn whichever wayyou wish. If you like, to your right, and if you like, to your left.'"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that one of the muhajirun in whom he saw no harm asked Abdullahibn Amr ibn al-As, "Can I pray in a place where camels are watered?"Abdullah replied, "No, but you can pray in a sheep-pen."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al-Musayyab said, "Which prayer is it when you remain in the sittingposition in every raka?'' Said said, "It is maghrib when you miss oneraka, and that is the sunna in all the prayers."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Amir ibn Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr from Amr ibn Sulaym az-Zuraqi from Abu Qutada al-Ansari thatthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, usedto pray carrying Umama, who was the daughter of his daughter Zaynab byAbu'l As ibn Rabia ibn Abd Shams. When he prostrated, he put her down,and when he got up he carried her.

Yahya related to me from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj from AbuHurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, "A group of angels in the night and a group of angels inthe day alternate with each other among you, and gather together atthe time of the asr and fajr prayers. Then those that have spent thenight among you ascend, and He asks them, and He knows best, 'How didyou leave my slaves?' and they say, 'When we left them they werepraying, and when we came to them they were praying.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, said, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer."A'isha said, "Messenger of Allah, when Abu Bakr stands in your placehis voice does not reach the ears of the people because of hisweeping, so tell Umar to lead the people in prayer." He said, "TellAbu Bakr to lead the people in prayer." A'isha continued, "I toldHafsa to tell him that when Abu Bakr stood in his place his voice didnot reach the ears of the people because of his weeping, and that heshould tell Umar to lead the people in prayer. Hafsa did so, and theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,'You are the companions of Yusuf! (referring to the women who cuttheir hands when they saw the beauty of Yusuf). Tell Abu Bakr to leadthe people in prayer!' "

A'isha added that Hafsa said to her,"I have never had anything good from you!"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ata ibn Yazidal-Laythi that Ubaydullah ibn Adi ibnal-Khiyar said, "Once when theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wassitting with some people, a man came to him and spoke secretly to him.Nobody knew what he had said until the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, disclosed that he had asked forpermission to kill one of the hypocrites. When he disclosed this, theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,'Doesn't he testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammadis the Messenger of Allah?' The man replied, 'Of course, but hehasn't really done so.' He said, 'Doesn't he do the prayer?' and theman replied, 'Of course, but he doesn't really do the prayer.' Hesaid, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 'Those are the oneswhom Allah has forbidden me (to kill).' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibnYasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, "O Allah! Do not make my grave an idol that isworshipped. The anger on those who took the graves of their Prophetsas places of prostration was terrible."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Mahmud ibnRabi al-Ansari that Utban ibn Malik, who was a blind man, used to leadhis people in prayer, and he said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, "Sometimes it is dark and rainy andthere is a lot of water around outside, and I am a man who has losthis sight. Messenger of Allah, pray in a certain place in my house sothat I can take it as a place to pray." The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, came to him and said, "Wherewould you like me to pray?" He indicated a place to him and theMessengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayedthere.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ihn al-Musayyab that Umar ibn al Khattab and Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with them, used to do the same.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Abdullahibn Masud said to a certain man, "You are in a time when men ofunderstanding (fuqaha) are many and Qur'an reciters are few, when thelimits of behaviour defined in the Qur'an are guarded and its lettersare lost, when few people ask and many give, when they make the prayerlong and the khutba short, and put their actions before their desires.A time will come upon men when their fuqaha are few but their Qur'anreciters are many, when the letters of the Qur'an are guardedcarefully but its limits are lost, when many ask but few give, whenthey make the khutba long but the prayer short, and put their desiresbefore their actions."

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, said, "The actions which the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, loved most were those which weredone most constantly."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard from Amir ibnSad ibn Abi Waqqas that his father said, "There were two brothers, oneof whom died forty nights before the other. The merit of the first wasbeing mentioned in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, and he said, 'Wasn't the other one amuslim?' They said, 'Of course, Messenger of Allah, and there was noharm in him.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, 'What will make you realise what his prayer hasbrought him. The prayer is like a deep river of sweet water running byyour door into which you plunge five times a day. How much of yourdirtiness do you think that will leave? You do not realise what hisprayer has brought him.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that if some onepassed by Ata ibn Yasar in the mosque with something to trade, hewould call him and ask, "What is the matter with you? What do youwant?" If the man said that he wished to trade with him, he would say,"You need the market of this world. This is the market of the nextworld."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibnal-Khattab set aside an area near the mosque called al-Butayha andsaid, "Whoever wishes to talk nonsense or recite poetry or raise hisvoice should go to that area."

Yahya related to me from Malik from his paternal uncle Abu Suhaylibn Malik that his father heard Talha ibn Ubaydullah say, "Once one ofthe people of Najd came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace. He had dishevelled hair and although his voicecould be heard we could not make out what he was saying until he drewnearer and then we found he was asking about Islam. The Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, 'Thereare five prayers during the day and the night.' He said, 'Do I have todo anything else besides that?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, added, 'And fasting the month ofRamadan.' He said, 'Is there anything else I have to do?' He said,'No, except what you do of your own accord.' The Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned zakat. The mansaid, 'Is there anything else that I have to do?' He said, 'No, exceptwhat you do of your own accord.'

He continued, "The man wentaway saying, 'By Allah, I won't do any more than this, nor will I doany less.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, 'That man will be successful, if he is telling thetruth.'

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, "Shaytan ties three knots at the back of your headwhen you sleep, and he seals the place of each knot with 'You have along night ahead, so sleep.' If you wake up and remember Allah, a knotis untied. If you do wudu, a knot is untied. If you pray, a knot isuntied, and morning finds you lively and in good spirits, and if not,morning finds you in bad spirits and lazy."