I have been commanded to prostrate on seven bones The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say between the two prostrations: "Allahumma ighfir li warhamni wa ‘āfeni wahdeni warzuqni (O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, grant me safety, guide me, and provide for me) The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise his hands in line with his shoulders when commencing the prayer, The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) taught me the Tashahhud, with my hand between his two hands, as he would teach me a Surah from the Qur’an Be moderate in prostration, and let none of you spread his forearms on the ground like a dog When the Imām says amen, you too say amen, for whoever says amen at the same time the angels say amen will have his previous sins forgiven When you prostrate, place your palms and raise your elbows When any of you prostrates, he should not kneel down like a camel; rather, he should put down his hands before his knees Ibn ‘Umar used to put his hands down before his knees, and he said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to do that I prayed with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and he used to make Taslīm (salutation of peace ending the prayer) to his right saying: "May Allah's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you," and to his left saying: "May Allah's peace and mercy be upon you The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) recited: {Say, “O disbelievers”} and {Say: “He is Allah, the One”} in the two Rak‘ahs of Fajr O people, I only did this so that you can follow my example and learn my prayer.' 'When you pray, straighten your rows and let one of you lead in prayer, and when he says takbīr, say takbīr By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, I am the closest among you to the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). Such was his prayer until he departed this world The worst of thieves among people is the one who steals his prayer." He said: "How does he steal his prayer?" He said: "He does not perform its Rukū‘ or prostration perfectly When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) raised his back from Rukū‘ (bowing), he would say: "Sami‘a allāhu liman hamidah The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say between the two prostrations: "Rabbi ighfir li, rabbi ighfir li" (My Lord, forgive me; my Lord, forgive me) That is Satan who is known as Khinzab. If you perceive his effect, seek refuge with Allah from him and spit three times to your left When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) got up for prayer, he would say Takbīr when he stands. Then he would say Takbīr when he bows. Then he would say: "Allah hears the one who praised Him" when he raises his back from bowing I watched the prayer of Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and found his standing, his bowing, standing after bowing, prostration, sitting between the two prostrations, prostration, and sitting between Taslīm (end of the prayer) and going away nearly equal to one another The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) entered the mosque and then a man came in and prayed. After that, he came and greeted the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), who said to him: Go back and pray, for you have not prayed The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray while carrying Umāmah the daughter of Zaynab, daughter of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) I prayed with Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmān and I did not hear any one of them recite "In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful" The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a man in charge of an army unit who led them in prayer; he always concluded his recitation with Sūrat al-Ikhlās I prayed with ‘Imrān ibn Husayn behind ‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib. When he prostrated, he made Takbīr, when he raised his head he made Takbīr, and when he stood up after two Rak‘ahs, he made Takbīr I heard the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) reciting Sūrat At-Tūr in the Maghrib prayer I will lead you in prayer; although I do not intend to pray, it is just to show you how I witnessed the Messenger of Allah pray O Allah, forgive my past and future sins, my hidden and apparent sins, my transgression, and the sins that You know of more than I do. You are the One who puts forward and the One who holds back. There is no god but You The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) went out to Qubā' Mosque to pray in it I saw the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) leading people in prayer and carrying Umāmah bint Abu al-‘Ās, the daughter of the Prophet's daughter Zaynab, on his shoulder. He put her down when he wanted to bow, and he picked her up again when he got up after prostration Kill the two blacks during prayer: the snake and the scorpion The Hadīth of the one harming his prayer as reported by Rifā‘ah (may Allah be pleased with him) Abu Humayd As-Sā‘idi, while he was sitting with ten of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) including Abu Qatādah, said: I am the most knowledgeable among you about the Prophet's prayer The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to start the prayer with the Takbīr and then read: {All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds} When he bowed, he neither raised his head nor lowered it, but kept it in between I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and he placed his right hand above his left hand on his chest The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) as well as Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, used to begin the prayer with {All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds} The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite Al-Fātihah followed by another Sūrah in the first two Rak‘āhs of the Zhuhr prayer and used to recite only Al-Fātihah in the last two Rak‘āhs of it. Sometimes a verse or so was audible We used to estimate the time that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) would stand when performing the Zhuhr and the ‘Asr prayers. We estimated that the time he stood in the first two Rak‘ahs of the Zhuhr prayer as the being the time taken to recite Sūrat As-Sajdah and it would be half of that time in the last two Rak‘ahs I have never prayed behind anyone whose prayer more closely resembles that of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) than so-and-so. We prayed behind him and he would lengthen the first two Rak‘ahs of the Zhuhr and shorten the last two I heard the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) recite Sūrah At-Tūr during the Maghrib prayer. When he reached this verse: {Were they created by nothing? Or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather, they are not certain. Or have they the depositories [containing the provision] of your Lord? Or are they the controllers [of them]?}, it was as if my heart was about to take flight In the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) the bowing, rising from bowing, prostration, and sitting between the two prostrations were all roughly the same (in length) Whenever the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) bowed, he would spread out his fingers, and whenever he prostrated, he would join them together When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was performing an odd-numbered Rak‘ah, he would not get up until he had been settled in the sitting position The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) invoked evil on the tribe of Banu Sulaym for one month after rising from Rukū‘ in prayer The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did not say the Qunūt but he would pray for welfare of a people or doom of others O father, you prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, and ‘Ali here in Kufah for about five years. Did they use to recite the Qunūt in the Fajr prayer? He said: O son, this is an innovation in religion When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sat for supplication, he would put his right hand on his right thigh and his left hand on his left thigh, point with his index finger, place his thumb on his middle finger, and cover his knee with the palm of his left hand The people of Kufa complained to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb about their governor Sa‘d. He dismissed him and appointed ‘Ammār as their governor On raising his head from bowing in the final Rak‘ah of the Fajr prayer, he would say: O Allah, curse so-and-so and so-and-so, after saying: "Allah hears those who praise Him, our Lord, all praise belongs to You." So, Allah revealed: {Not for you is the decision} O Allah, save ʿAyyāsh ibn Abu Rabīʿah. O Allah, save Salamah ibn Hishām. O Allah, save Al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd. O Allah, save the oppressed believers. O Allah, be hard on [the tribe of] Mudar. O Allah, afflict them with years of famine and drought like the years of Yūsuf (Joseph) The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to start the prayer with Takbīr and then read: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. When he bowed, he neither raised his head nor lowered it, but kept it in between When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) made Takbīr, he would raise his hands up to the level of his ears. When he bowed, he would raise his hands up to the level of his ears, and when he raised his head from bowing and said: "Allah hears those who praise Him," he would do the same