"I prayed beside my father and I put my hands between my knees, and he told me: 'Put your hands on your knees.' Then I did that again and he struck my hands and said: 'We were forbidden to do that, and we were commanded to put our hands on our knees.'"

" 'Umar said: 'The Sunnah is to hold the knees.'"

"We came to Abu Mas'ud and said to him: 'Tell us about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).' He stood in front of us and said the takbir, then when he bowed he placed his palms on his knees and put his fingers lower than that, and he held his elbows out from his sides until every part of him had settled. Then he said: Sami' Allahu liman hamidah, Rabbana wa lakal-hamd (Allah hears those who praise Him, our Lord, and to You be the praise), then he stood up until every part of him had settled."

"Shall I not show you how I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) pray?" We said: "Yes." So he stood up and when he bowed, he placed his palms on his knees and put his fingers behind his knees, and held his arms out from his sides, until every part of him settled. Then he raised his head and stood up until every part of him settled. Then he prostrated and held his arms out from his sides, until every part of him settled. Then he sat up until every part of him settled. Then he prostrated again until every part of him settled. Then he did four rak'ahs like that. Then he said: "This is how I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) pray, and this is how he used to lead us in prayer."

"It is established for you to hold the knees, so hold the knees."

They were with 'Abdullah in his house and he said: "Have these people prayed?" We said: "Yes." So he led them in prayer and stood between them, with no Adhan and no Iqamah, and said: "If you are three then do this, and if you are more than that then let one of you lead the others in prayer, and let him lay his hands on his thighs. It is as if I can see the fingers of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), interlaced.'"

"We prayed with Abdullah bin Mas'ud in his house. He stood between us and we placed our hands on our knees, but he took them off and made us interlace our fingers, and said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) do that.'"

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught us the prayer. He stood up and said the takbir, and when he wanted to bow, he put his hands together and put his hands between his knees and bowed." News of that reached Sa'd and he said: "My brother has spoken the truth. We used to do that, then we were commanded to do this," meaning to hold the knees.

"I bowed and put my hands together, and my father said: 'This is something that we used to do, then we brought them up to our knees.'"

"Abu Mus'ad said: 'Shall I not show you how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed?' We said: 'Yes.' So he stood up and said the takbir, and when he bowed, he held his arms out from his sides until, when every part of him settled, he raised his head. He prayed four rak'ahs like that, and said: 'This is how I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) praying.'"

"When the Prophet (ﷺ) bowed he was balanced, he did not make his head higher or lower than his back, and he put his hands on his knees."

"The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade me from wearing gold rings, from reciting the Qur'an when bowing, and from wearing Al-Qassi, and clothes dyed with safflower."

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) often used to say when bowing and prostrating: 'Subhanaka Rabbana wa bi Hamdika, Allahumm aghfirli (Glorfy and praise be to You, our Lord. O Allah, forgive me.).'"

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to say when bowing: 'Subbuhun Quddusun Rabbul-mala'ikati war-ruh (Perfect, Most Holy, is the Lord of the angels and the spirit).'"

"I heard 'Awf bin Malik say: 'I prayed Qiyam with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) one night, and when he bowed, he stayed as long as it takes to recite Surat Al-Baqarah, saying: "Subhana Dhil-jabaruti wal-malakuti wal-kibriya' wal-'azamah (Glory be to the One Who has all power, sovereignty, magnificence and might)."

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to raise his hands until they were in level with his shoulders when he started to pray, and when he raised his head from bowing he did likewise, and when he said: Sami' Allahu liman hamidah (Allah hears the one who praises Him)" he said: "Rabbana wa lakal-hamd (Our Lord, to You be praise)" and he did not raise his hands between the two prostrations.

"We used to pray Zuhr with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and I would take a handful of pebbles in my hand to cool them down, then I would pass them from one hand to the other, and when I prostrated I would put them down to lay my forehead on them."

"I heard Yusuf-meaning Ibn Mahak- narrating that Hakim said: 'I gave my pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), pledging that I would go down (in prostration) only after standing up from bowing.'"

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to raise his hands when he started to pray, and when he bowed, and when he stood up, but he did not do that when he prostrated."