The Book of Forgetfulness (In Prayer)

Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna informed us; he said: Mu‘adh ibn Mu‘adh narrated to us; he said: Zuhayr narrated to us, from Abu Ishaq, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Aswad, from al-Aswad and ‘Alqamah, from ‘Abdullah, who said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say the takbir at every lowering and rising, standing and sitting, and say the salutation to his right and left: “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah; peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,” until the whiteness of his cheek could be seen. I saw Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) do that.

Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Za‘farani narrated to us, from Hajjaj. Ibn Jurayj said: ‘Amr ibn Yahya informed us, from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban, from his uncle Wasi‘ ibn Habban, that he asked ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: “Allah is the Greatest” whenever he lowered himself, and “Allah is the Greatest” whenever he rose. Then he would say: “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,” to his right, and “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,” to his left.

Qutaybah narrated to us; he said: ‘Abd al-‘Aziz—meaning al-Darawardi—narrated to us, from ‘Amr ibn Yahya, from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban, from his uncle Wasi‘ ibn Habban, who said: I said to Ibn ‘Umar, “Tell me about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). What was it like?” He mentioned the takbir, that is, he mentioned it, and said: “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,” to his right, and “Peace be upon you,” to his left.

Zayd ibn Akhzam informed us, from Ibn Dawud—meaning ‘Abdullah ibn Dawud al-Khuraybi—from ‘Ali ibn Salih, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu al-Ahwas, from ‘Abdullah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: “It is as if I can see the whiteness of his cheek as he turned to his right and said, ‘Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,’ and to his left and said, ‘Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah.’”

Muhammad ibn Adam narrated to us, from ‘Umar ibn ‘Ubayd, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu al-Ahwas, from ‘Abdullah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would say the salutation to his right until the whiteness of his cheek appeared, and to his left until the whiteness of his cheek appeared.

‘Amr ibn ‘Ali informed us; he said: ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu al-Ahwas, from ‘Abdullah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said that he would say the salutation to his right and left: “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah; peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,” until the whiteness of his cheek could be seen on this side and the whiteness of his cheek on that side.

Ibrahim ibn Ya‘qub informed us; he said: ‘Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Shaqiq narrated to us; he said: al-Husayn ibn Waqid informed us; he said: Abu Ishaq narrated to us, from ‘Alqamah, al-Aswad, and Abu al-Ahwas, who said: ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud narrated to us that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would say the salutation to his right: “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,” until the whiteness of his right cheek could be seen; and to his left: “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,” until the whiteness of his left cheek could be seen.

Ahmad ibn Sulayman informed us; he said: ‘Ubaydullah ibn Musa narrated to us; he said: Isra’il narrated to us, from Furat al-Qazzaz, from ‘Ubaydullah—namely, Ibn al-Qibtiyyah—from Jabir ibn Samurah, who said: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When we said the salutation, we would gesture with our hands, saying, “Peace be upon you, peace be upon you.” He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at us and said, “Why are you gesturing with your hands as if they were the tails of unruly horses? When one of you says the salutation, let him turn toward his companion and not gesture with his hand.”

Suwayd ibn Nasr informed us; he said: ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak informed us, from Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhri, who informed him; he said: Mahmud ibn al-Rabi‘ informed me; he said: I heard ‘Itban ibn Malik say: I used to lead my people, the Banu Salim, in prayer. I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “My eyesight has weakened, and the floodwaters come between me and the mosque of my people. I would like you to come and pray in my house, at a place that I can use as a mosque.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “I will do so, if Allah wills.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me the next morning with Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), after the day had grown hot. The Prophet asked permission, and I admitted him. He did not sit down before asking, “Where in your house would you like me to pray?” I pointed out the place where I wanted him to pray. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood, and we lined up behind him. Then he said the salutation, and we said it when he did.

Sulayman ibn Dawud ibn Hammad ibn Sa‘d narrated to us, from Ibn Wahb, who said: Ibn Abi Dhi’b, ‘Amr ibn al-Harith, and Yunus ibn Yazid informed me that Ibn Shihab had informed them, from ‘Urwah, who said: ‘A’ishah said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray eleven rak‘ahs between finishing the ‘Isha prayer and dawn, and perform Witr with one rak‘ah. He would prostrate for as long as one of you would take to recite fifty verses before raising his head. Some of them add more than others to the hadith. [This is an abridged version.]

Muhammad ibn Adam narrated to us, from Hafs, from al-A‘mash, from Ibrahim, from ‘Alqamah, from ‘Abdullah, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said the salutation, then spoke, then performed the two prostrations of forgetfulness.

Suwayd ibn Nasr narrated to us, from ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, from ‘Ikrimah ibn ‘Ammar, who said: Damdam ibn Jawas narrated to us, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said the salutation, then performed the two prostrations of forgetfulness while sitting, then said the salutation. He said: He mentioned it in the hadith of Dhu al-Yadayn.

Yahya ibn Habib ibn ‘Arabi informed us; he said: Hammad narrated to us; he said: Khalid narrated to us, from Abu Qilabah, from Abu al-Muhallab, from ‘Imran ibn Husayn, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed three rak‘ahs, then said the salutation. Al-Khirbaq said, “You prayed three rak‘ahs.” So he prayed the remaining rak‘ah with them, then said the salutation, then performed the two prostrations of forgetfulness, then said the salutation.

Ahmad ibn Sulayman informed us; he said: ‘Amr ibn ‘Awn narrated to us; he said: Abu ‘Awanah narrated to us, from Hilal, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, who said: I watched the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) during his prayer and found that his standing, bowing, standing upright after bowing, prostration, sitting between the two prostrations, second prostration, and sitting between the salutation and departing were nearly equal in length.

Muhammad ibn Salamah informed us; he said: Ibn Wahb narrated to us, from Yunus. Ibn Shihab said: Hind bint al-Harith al-Firasiyyah informed me that Umm Salamah informed her that, in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), when the women said the salutation at the end of prayer, they would get up, while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the men who had prayed would remain seated for as long as Allah willed. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood, the men stood.

Ya‘qub ibn Ibrahim informed us; he said: Yahya narrated to us, from Sufyan, who said: Ya‘la ibn ‘Ata’ narrated to me, from Jabir ibn Yazid ibn al-Aswad, from his father, that he prayed the dawn prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When he had prayed, he turned aside.

Bishr ibn Khalid al-‘Askari informed us; he said: Yahya ibn Adam narrated to us, from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, from ‘Amr ibn Dinar, from Abu Ma‘bad, from Ibn ‘Abbas, who said: I would know that the Messenger of Allah’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer had ended only by the takbir.

Muhammad ibn Salamah informed us; he said: Ibn Wahb narrated to us, from al-Layth, from Hunayn ibn Abi Hakim, from ‘Ulayy ibn Rabah, from ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed me to recite the chapters of seeking refuge after every prayer.

Mahmud ibn Khalid informed us; he said: al-Walid narrated to us, from Abu ‘Amr al-Awza‘i, who said: Shaddad Abu ‘Ammar narrated to me that Abu Asma’ al-Rahabi told him that he heard Thawban, the freedman of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), relate that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) finished his prayer, he would seek Allah’s forgiveness three times and say: “O Allah, You are Peace, and from You comes peace. Blessed are You, Possessor of majesty and honor.”

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la and Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Sadran narrated to us, from Khalid, who said: Shu‘bah narrated to us, from ‘Asim, from ‘Abdullah ibn al-Harith, from ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said the salutation, he would say: “O Allah, You are Peace, and from You comes peace. Blessed are You, Possessor of majesty and honor.”