one who goes in front of people when they do not like him, a man who comes to prayer dibaran, which means that he comes to it too late, and a man who takes into slavery an emancipated female slave.” Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Sulama daughter of al-Hurr reported God’s Messenger as saying, "One of the signs of the last hour will be that people in a mosque will refuse to act as imam and will not find an imam to lead them in prayer.”Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

We lived by water which people passed. Riders would pass by us and we would ask them, "What has happened to the people? What has happened to the people? What is this man like?” and they would reply, "He asserts that God has sent him, has made a revelation to him, has made a revelation to him to this effect.”I was remembering those words with the result that they seemed to be glued in my breast. By their acceptance of Islam the Arabs were expecting victory for they would say ‘Let him and his people alone, for if be gets the better of them, he is a true prophet.’ Then when the battle of the conquest of Mecca took place every tribe hastened to accept Islam, and my father was the first of my tribe to accept it. When he returned he said: I swear by God that I have come to you from him who is truly the Prophet. He said, “Pray such and such a prayer at such and such a time, and such and such a prayer at such and such a time. When the time of prayer comes one of you should call the >i>adhan and the one of you who knows most of the Qur’an should act as your imam” So they considered, and there was no one who knew more of the Our’an than I did because of what I had received from the riders. They therefore put me forward in front of them, and I was only six or seven years old. I wore a mantle which, when I prostrated myself, went up on me, and a woman of the clan said, “Why do you not cover the backside of your reader from us?” So they bought and cut out a shirt for me, and I have never been so pleased about anything as I was about that shirt. Bukhari transmitted it.

a man who acts as imam for people when they do not like him, a woman with whom her husband is displeased throughout the night, and two brothers* who are disunited.” * The word here is most probably used in the widest sense, meaning two Muslims.Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Qais b. Abu Hazim said Abu Mas'ud told him of a man saying, “I swear by God, Messenger of God, that I keep away from the Morning Prayer on account of so and so, because he keeps us so long.” I never saw God’s Messenger more angry when giving an exhortation than he was that day. He said, “Some of you are scaring people away, so whoever of you leads the people in prayer must be brief, for among them are the weak, the aged, and people who have business to do.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

When God’s Messenger was seriously ill* and Bilal came to announce the time of prayer for him, he said, “Order Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer.” So Abu Bakr led the prayer during those days, then when the Prophet experienced some improvement in his condition he got up and came into the mosque swaying between two men with his feet touching the ground. On hearing the sound Abu Bakr began to withdraw, but God’s Messenger signed to him not to do so. He then came and sat at Abu Bakr’s left, and Abu Bakr prayed standing and God’s Messenger prayed sitting, Abu Bakr following God’s Messenger’s prayer, while the people followed Abu Bakr’s. * Here the reference is to the Prophet's last illness.(Bukhari and Muslim.) They both have a version which says that Abu Bakr caused the people to hear the takbir.

I was present with the Prophet at his pilgrimage and prayed the Morning Prayer along with him in the mosque of al-Khaif. When he finished his prayer and turned away there were two men at the back of the people who had not prayed along with him. He said, “Bring them to me,” and they were brought trembling with fear. He asked what had prevented them from praying along with him, and they replied, “Messenger of God, we had already prayed in our lodging.” He said, “Don’t do so. When you pray in your lodging and then come to a mosque where there is a congregation, you must pray along with them, and it will be a supererogatory prayer for you. Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

We came to Ibn ‘Umar at al- Balat* when the people were praying, and I remarked on the fact that he was not praying along with the people. He replied that he had already prayed and that he had heard God’s Messenger say, “Do not pray a prayer twice on the same day.” * A square paved with stones between the Prophet's mosque and the market-place in Medina.Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

Umm Habiba reported God’s Messenger as saying, “A house will be built in paradise for anyone who prays in a day and a night twelve rak'as, four before and two after the noon prayer, two after the sunset prayer, two after the evening prayer, and two before the dawn prayer.” Tirmidhi transmitted it. In a version by Muslim she said she heard God’s Messenger say, “If any Muslim prays to God twelve voluntary rak'as daily, over and above the obligatory ones, God will build a house for him in paradise,” or, “a house will be built for him in paradise.”

She reported God’s Messenger as saying, “The two rak'as at dawn are better than this world and what it contains.” Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “If any of you prays after the Friday noon prayer, he should pray four rak'as.” Muslim transmitted it. In another version by him he said, “When any of you prays the Friday noon prayer, he should pray four rak'as after it.”

‘Abdallah b. as-Sa’ib said God’s Messenger used to pray four rak'as before the noon prayer, after the sun had passed the meridian, saying, “It is an hour at which the gates of heaven are opened, and I like a good deed of mine to ascend at that time.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar reported God’s Messenger as saying, “God show mercy to a man who prays four rak'as before the afternoon prayer!” Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘Ali said that God's Messenger used to pray four rak’as before the afternoon prayer, separating them with a salutation to the angels who are near God’s presence and the Muslims and believers who come after them. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God's Messenger as saying, “If anyone prays six rak'as after the sunset prayer, not saying anything evil during them, they will be treated for him as equivalent to twelve years’ worship.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying, “This is a gharib tradition which I know only from the traditions of ‘Umar b. Abu Khath'am; and I heard Muhammad b. Isma'il (i.e. Bukhari) say that his traditions are rejected. He declared him to be very weak.”

Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s Messenger as saying, “When the stars set two rak'as should be prayed before the dawn prayer, and after the prostration two rak'as should be prayed after the sunset prayer.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.

‘Umar said that he heard God’s Messenger say, “Four rak'as before the noon prayer after the sun has passed tne meridian are reckoned equivalent to a similar number at the dawn prayer.1 There is nothing which does not glorify God at that hour.” Then he recited, “Their shadows turn round from the right and the left prostrating themselves to God, and they are abject.”2 1. This is the literal translation, but commentators usually explain it as referring to night prayers at some time between midnight and dawn. 2. Al-Qur’an; 16:48Tirmidhi and Baihaqi, in Shu'ab al- iman, transmitted it.

‘Amr b. ‘Ata’ said that Nafi‘ b. Jubair sent him to as-Sa'ib to ask him about something Mu'awiya had seen him do in prayer. He said, “Yes, I prayed the Friday noon prayer along with him in the enclosure,* and when the imam uttered the salutation I stood up in my place and prayed. When he went in he sent me a message saying, ‘Never again do what you have done. When you pray the Friday noon prayer you must not join another prayer to it till you have engaged in conversation or gone out, for God’s Messenger gave us that precise command, not to join on a prayer till we had engaged in conversation or gone out’.” * The enclosure (maqsura) was a private part of the mosque reserved for the Caliph. Mu'awiya has been accused of being an innovator because he introduced this feature.Muslim transmitted it.

Masruq said he asked ‘A’isha what prayers God’s Messenger said during the night and she replied, “Seven, nine, and eleven rak'as apart from the two rak'as of the dawn prayer.” Bukhari transmitted it.

I spent a night with my maternal aunt Maimuna when the Prophet was with her. After talking to his family for a time he had a sleep, then when the last third of the night came, or a little later, he sat up, looked at the sky, and recited, “In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day there are indeed signs for people of understanding,"(Al-Qur’an; 3:190) to the end of the sura. Then getting up and going to the bucket, he loosened its cord and poured some water into a bowl, then performed a good ablution between the two extremes, not going to great length, and when he had done it fully he stood up and prayed. I got up, and when I had performed ablution I stood at his left side, whereupon he took me by the ear and made me go round to his right side. His prayer was altogether thirteen rak'as. Then he lay down and slept, and he snored as was his custom. When Bilal made the call to prayer for him he prayed without performing ablution, and his supplication included these words, “O God, place light in my heart, light in my eyesight, light in my hearing, light on my right hand, light on my left hand, light above me, light below me, light in front of me, light behind me, and grant me light." Some added, “and light in my tongue," and mentioned, “my joints, my flesh, my blood, my hair, my skin." (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by both of them he said, “Place light in my soul, and give me abundant light." In another by Muslim he said, “O God, give me light."