Prayer

An-Nu‘man b. Bashir said, “I am the one who is best informed of the time of this prayer, the last prayer of the evening. God’s Messenger used to observe it when the moon went down on its third night.” Abu Dawud and Darimi transmitted it.

We observed the prayer after nightfall with God’s Messenger, and he did not come out till about half the night had passed. He then said, “Take your places,” and when we had done so he said, “The people have prayed and gone to bed, but you are still engaged in prayer as long as you wait for the prayer. Were it not for the weakness of the weak and the sickness of the sick, I would delay the prayer till half the night had gone;” Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

Umm Salama said, “God’s Messenger observed the noon prayer much earlier than you, but you observe the afternoon prayer much earlier than he.” Ahmad and Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Anas said that during the hot weather God’s Messenger delayed the prayer till it was cooler, but in the cold weather he observed it early. Nasa’i transmitted it.

‘Umara b. Ruwaiba said that he heard God's Messenger say, “No one will enter hell who has prayed before the rising of the sun and before its setting," meaning the dawn and the afternoon prayer. Muslim transmitted it.

Jundub al-Qasri reported God’s Messenger as saying, “When anyone prays the morning prayer he is in God’s protection; so see that God does not call you to account for withdrawing in any respect from His protection, for if He does this to anyone for any cause He will catch him and turn him over on his face in the fire of Jahannam.” Muslim transmitted it. Some MSS. of al-Masabih have al-Qushair instead of al-Qasri.

He also reported God’s Messenger as saying, "No prayer is more burdensome to the hypocrites than the dawn and the evening prayer; but if they know what blessing lies in them, they would come to them even if they had to crawl to do so.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ibn ‘Umar reported God’s Messenger as saying, "Do not let the Bedouin take away from you the name of your prayer al-maghrib (sunset) which the Bedouin call al-'isha (evening); and do not let the Bedouin take away from you the name of your prayer al-‘isha, for it is mentioned as al-‘isha in God’s Book,1 and for they use the verb from the root ‘atama of milking camels at nightfall.”1. (Al-Qur’an, 24:58.)

Ibn Mas'ud and Samura b. Jundub reported God's Messenger as saying, "The middle prayer is the afternoon prayer.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Zaid b. Thabit and ‘A’isha said that the middle prayer is the noon prayer. Malik transmitted it from Zaid and Tirmidhi from both of them without a full isnad.

Abu Mahdhura said that the Prophet taught him the adhan as consisting of nineteen words, and the iqama as consisting of seventeen words. Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Darimi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

When God’s Messenger ordered a bell to be made so that it might be struck to gather the people for prayer, a man carrying a bell in his hand appeared to me while I was asleep, and I said, “Servant of God, will you sell the bell ?” When he asked what I would do with it and I replied that we would use it to call people to prayer, he said, “Shall I not guide you to something better than that?" I replied, “Certainly”; so he told me to say, “God is most great ...” and similarly in the iqama. When I told God’s Messenger in the morning what I had seen he said, “It is a genuine vision, if God will; so get up along with Bilal, and when you have taught him what you have seen let him use it in making the call to prayer, for he has a stronger voice than you have. So I got up along with Bilal and began to teach it to him, and he used it in making the call to prayer. ‘Umar b, al-Khattab heard that when he was in his house, and he came out trailing his cloak and said, “Messenger of God, by Him who has sent you with the truth, I have seen the same kind of thing as has been revealed," to which God’s Messenger replied, “To God be the praise!” Abu Dawud, Darimi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, but Ibn Majah did not mention the iqama. Tirmidhi said that this is a sahih, tradition, but that it did not make the story of the bell explicit.

Abu Bakra said, “I went out with the Prophet to the Morning Prayer, and he called every man he passed to prayer, or shook him with his foot.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘Abd ar-Rahman b Sa'd b. 'Ammar b. Sa‘d, the mu’adhdhin* of God’s Messenger, said that his father told him from his father from his grandfather that God’s Messenger commanded Bilal to put his fingers in his ears, saying that it made the voice louder.* The mu’adhdhin here mentioned was Sa‘d, great-grandfather of ‘Abd ar-Rahman.Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Mu‘awiya said that he heard God's Messenger say, “The mu’adhdhins will have the longest necks on the day of resurrection.” Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “When a summons to prayer is made the evil turns his back and breaks wind so as not to hear the call being made, but when the summons is finished he turns round. When a second call to prayer is made he turns his back, and when the second call is finished he turns round to distract a man, saying, ‘Remember such and such ; remember such and such’, referring to something the man did not have in mind, with the result that he does not know how much he has prayed.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr b. al-‘As reported God's Messenger as saying, “When you hear the mu’adhdhin repeat what he says, then invoke a blessing on me, for everyone who invokes one blessing on me will receive ten blessings from God. Then ask God to give me the wasila, which is a rank in paradise fitting for only one of God’s servants, and I hope that I may be the one. If anyone asks that I be given the wasila, he will be assured of my intercession.”Muslim transmitted it.

Anas said that the Prophet used to attack the enemy at dawn, and he would sometimes hear the adhan, so if he heard an adhan he stopped, but otherwise he attacked. Once on hearing a man say, “God is most great, God is most great,” God’s Messenger said, “You follow Islam.” Then hearing him say, “There is no god but God,” he said, “You have come forth from hell.” They looked at him and found that he was a goatherd. Muslim transmitted it.

‘Abdallah b. Mughaffal reported God’s Messenger as saying, “Between every pair of adhans there is a prayer; between every pair of adhans there is a prayer.” Then he said on repeating it a third time, “for him who wishes.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “The imam is responsible and the mu'adhdhin is trusted. O God, guide the imams and forgive the mu'adhdhins.” Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Shafi’i transmitted it, and in another version by Shafi’i the wording of al-Masabih is used.