Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “When one of your prays he should put something in front of his face, and if he can find nothing he should set up his stick; but if he has no stick with him he should draw a line, then what passes in front of him will not harm him.” Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Sahl b. Abu Hathma reported God’s Messenger as saying, “When one of you prays facing a sutra* he should keep close to it and not let the devil interrupt his prayer.” * Sutra (covering, screen) is used of an object a worshipper places in front of him in the direction of the qibla when engaging in prayer.Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘A’isha said that God’s Messenger used to begin prayer with the takbir1 and the recitation of “Praise be to God, the Lord of the universe.”2 When he bowed he neither kept his head up nor bent it down, but kept it between these extremes; when he raised his head after bowing he did not prostrate himself till he had stood erect; when he raised head after a prostration he did not prostrate himself again till he had sat up. At the end of every two rak'as he said the tahiya;3 and he used to bend his left foot and raise up the right; he prohibited the devil’s way of sitting on the heels, and he forbade people to spread out their arms like a wild beast. And he used to finish the prayer with the taslim4. Muslim transmitted it.1. i.e. saying Allahu Akbar (God is most great).2. Al-Qur’an; 1.3. This is a part of the prayers which comes at the end of every two rak'as, beginning with at-tahiyat lillah and ending with the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Tahiyat is the plural of tahiya and the phrase quoted above is variously explained as meaning that endless existence, or dominion, or kingship, or freedom from all evils, or freedom from all causes of cessation of existence belong to God. Alternatively it is taken in its usual meaning of salutations.4. Saying, “The peace and mercy of God be upon you,” first with the head turned to the right and then with the head turned to the left. This is said at the end of the prayers.

Abu Humaid as-Sa'idi said among a company of the companions of God’s Messenger, “I am the one among you who is best versed in the way God’s Messenger prayed. I saw that when he uttered the takbir he placed his hands opposite his shoulders; when he bowed he rested his hands on his knees, then bent his back; when he raised his head he stood erect with his spine straight; when he prostrated himself he placed his arms so that they were not spread out, and the fingers were not drawn in, and the points of his toes were facing the qibla; when he sat up at the end of two rak'as he sat on his left foot and raised the right; and when he sat up after the last rak'a he put forward the left foot, raised the other, and sat on his hips.” Bukhari transmitted it.

Sahl b. Sa'd said that the people received command that a man should place the right hand on the left forearm in prayer. Bukhari transmitted it.

When God’s Messenger stood up to pray he raised his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders and said the takbir; then he recited some verses; then said the takbir, raising his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders; then he bowed, placing the palms of his hands on his knees and keeping himself straight neither raising nor lowering his head; then raised his head saying, “God listens to him who praises Him”; then raised his hands placing them exactly opposite his shoulders; then said the takbir; then lowered himself to the ground in prostration, keeping his arms away from his sides and bending his toes; then raised his head, bent his left foot and sat on it; then he adopted a natural position so that every bone returned properly to its place; then he prostrated himself; then he said the takbir, raised himself and bent his left foot and sat on it: then he adopted a natural position so that every bone returned to its place; then he got up, and did the same as that in the second rak'a. At the end of two rak'as he stood up and said the takbir, raising his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders in the way he had said the takbir on beginning to pray; then he did that in the remainder of his prayer, and after the sajda* which is followed by the taslim he put out his left foot and sat on his left hip; then he uttered the taslim. They said, “You have spoken the truth. This is how he used to pray.” *i.e. prostrationAbu Dawud and Darimi transmitted it. And Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted something to the same effect. Tirmidhi saying that this is a hasan sahih tradition.Then he bowed and placed his hands on his knees as though he were clutching them, and he bent his arms and kept them away from his sides. He (i.e. the narrator) said that he then prostrated himself placing his nose and his forehead on the ground, keeping his arms away from his sides, placing the palms of his hands [on the ground] opposite his shoulders, keeping his thighs separate and not letting his stomach press on any part of his thighs till he finished; then he sat up and spread out his left foot, putting forward the front of his right foot towards his qibla, placing the palm of his right hand on his right knee and the palm of his left hand on his left knee, and he pointed with his finger, i.e., his forefinger. In another version by him [it says]: When he sat at the end of two rak'as he sat on the sole of his left foot and raised the right, and after the fourth he placed his left hip on the ground and put out both feet on one side.A version by Abu Dawud of the tradition of Abu Humaid.

Qabisa b. Hulb quoted his father as saying that God’s Messenger would lead them in prayer and hold his left hand in his right. Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Abu Huraira told how on an occasion when God’s Messenger led them in the noon prayer, there was a man at the back of the rows who performed the prayer badly. When he had said the taslim God’s Messenger called out to him, “So and so, do you not fear God? Do you not see how you should pray? You people think that part of what you are doing is hidden from me, but I swear by God that I see behind me just as I see in front of me." Ahmad transmitted it.

Abu Huraira said that when God's Messenger got up after the second rak'a he began the recitation with, “Praise be to God, the Lord of the universe,” without observing a period of silence. It is given thus in Muslim’s Sahih. Al-Humaidi mentioned it among those given by Muslim but not by Bukhari, as did the author of al-Jami' (Ibn Al-Athir) from Muslim alone.

‘Ubada b. as-Samit reported God’s Messenger as saying, “He who does not recite Fatihat al-Kitab* is not credited with having observed prayer.” *The first sura.(Bukhari and Muslim.) A version by Muslim has “He who does not recite Umm al-Qur’an (the first sura and something more.”

When you pray make your rows straight and let one of your number act as your imam. If you say the takbir when he says it and say Amen when he says “Not of those with whom Thou art angry nor of those who go astray”, God will accept your prayer. When he says the takbir and bows, say it and bow, for the imam bows before you and raises himself before you. Then God’s Messenger said, “The one is equivalent to the other.”* And he said: If you say, “O God our Lord, to Thee be the praise,” when he says, “God listens to him who praises him,” God will listen to you. * Although the imam begins and ends his bowing before you do, your bow lasts the same length of time as his.Muslim transmitted it. In a version by him from Abu Huraira and Qatada the words occur, “And when he recites listen silently.”

Al-Bara’ said that he heard the Prophet recite at the evening prayer, “By the fig and the olive”* and that he had never heard anyone with a more beautiful voice. *Al-Qur’an; 95.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

Jabir b. Samura said that the. Prophet used to recite at the dawn prayer, "Qaf. By the glorious Qur'an"* and a passage of similar length, and his prayer afterwards was shortened. *Al-Qur’an; 50.Muslim transmitted it.

God’s Messenger led us in the Morning Prayer in Mecca and began the Sura al-Mu’minun1, but when he came to the reference to Moses and Aaron2, or to the reference to Jesus3, a cough got the better of him and he bowed. 1. Al-Qur’an; 23.2. Verse 453. Verse 50.Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira said that the Prophet used to recite at the dawn prayer on Friday A.L.M. Tanzil1 in the first rak'a, and in the second, “Has there come upon man?"2 1. Al-Qur’an; 32. 2. Al-Qur’an; 76.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

Marwan appointed Abu Huraira as governor of Medina and went to Mecca. Abu Huraira led us in the Friday prayer and recited sura al-Jumu'a1 in the first sajda and “When the hypocrites come to you"2 in the last, and said, “I heard God's Messenger reciting them on Friday." 1. Al-Qur'an, 62, recited in the first rak'a, which is what is meant by sajda in the text. 2. Al-Qur'an, 63.Muslim transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that God’s Messenger used to begin his prayer with, “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” Tirmidhi transmitted it and said that the isnad of this tradition is not approved.

Wa’il b. Hujr said that he heard God’s Messenger recite, “Not of those with whom Thou art angry, nor of those who go astray” (Al-Qur’an 1:7) and say “Amen”, prolonging the word. Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Darimi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

When I was leading God’s Messenger’s she-camel for him on a journey he said to me, “Shall I not teach you, ‘Uqba, the best two suras to recite?” Then he taught me “Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn” and “Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of men” (Al-Qur’an; 113-114). He saw that I was not greatly pleased with them, so when he alighted for the Morning Prayer he used them in leading the people in the Morning Prayer, and when he had finished he turned to me and said, “How do you find them now, ‘Uqba?” Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

I cannot count how often I heard God’s Messenger reciting in the two rak'as after the sunset prayer and in the two rak'as before the dawn prayer, “Say, O unbelievers,” and “Say, He is God, one God.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Ibn Majah transmitted it on Abu Huraira’s authority, but he did not mention “after the sunset prayer.”