The Prophet (saws) said: The imam is appointed only to be followed; when he says "Allah is most great," say "Allah is most great" and do not say "Allah is most great" until he says "Allah is most great." When he bows; bow; and do not bow until he bows. And when he says "Allah listens to him who praise Him," say "O Allah, our Lord, to Thee be the praise."

The version recorded by Muslim goes: "And to Thee be the praise: And when he prostrate; and do not prostrate until he prostrates. When he prays standing, pray standing, and when he prays sitting, all of you pray sitting.

Abu Dawud said: The words "O Allah, our Lord, to You be the praise" reported by Sulaiman were explained to me by some of our companions.

(the ally of Bani `Abdul Muttalib) Allah's Apostle stood up for the Zuhr prayer and he should have sat (after the second rak`a but he stood up for the third rak`a without sitting for Tashah-hud) and when he finished the prayer he performed two prostrations and said Takbir on each prostration while sitting, before ending (the prayer) with Taslim; and the people too performed the two prostrations with him instead of the sitting he forgot.

We accompanied the Messenger of Allah (saws) at Usfan, and Khalid ibn al-Walid was the chief of unbelievers. We offered the noon prayer.

Thereupon, the unbelievers said: We suffered from negligence; we became careless. We should have attacked them while they were praying. Thereupon the verse was revealed, relating to the shortening of the prayer (in time of danger) between the noon and afternoon (prayer).

When the time of the afternoon prayer came, the Messenger of Allah (saws) stood facing the qiblah, and the unbelievers were standing in front of him. The people stood in a row behind the Messenger of Allah (saws) and there was another row behind this row. The Messenger of Allah (saws) bowed and all of them bowed. He then prostrated and also the row near him prostrated. The other people in the second row remained standing and stood guard over them. When they performed two prostrations and stood up, those who were behind them prostrated. The people in the front row near him then stepped backward taking the place of the people in the second row and the second row took the place of the first row.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) then bowed and all of them bowed together. Then he and the row near him prostrated themselves. The other people in the second row remained standing and stood guard over them. When the Messenger of Allah (saws) and the row near him (i.e. the front row) were seated, the people in the second row behind them prostrated themselves. Then all of them were seated. (He (the Prophet) then uttered the salutation upon all of them. He prayed in his manner at Usfan as well as at the territory of Banu Sulaym.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by Ayyub and Hisham from Abu al-Zubair on the authority of Jabir to the same effect from the Prophet (saws). Similarly, this has been transmitted by Dawud b. Husain from 'Ikrimah, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas. This has also been reported by 'Abd al-Malik, from 'Ata' from Jabir in like manner. This has also been narrated by Qatadah from al-Hasan from Hittan on the authority of Abu Musa in a similar way. Similarly, this has been reported by 'Ikrimah b. Khalid from Mujahid from the Prophet (saws). This has also been reported by Hisham b. 'Urwah from his father from the Prophet (saws). This is the opinion of al-Thawri.

Once Allah's Apostle led us in the Zuhr prayer and got up (after the prostrations of the second rak`a) although he should have sat (for the Tashahhud). So at the end of the prayer, he prostrated twice while sitting (prostrations of Sahu).

When the sun eclipsed in the lifetime of Allah's Apostle and an announcement was made that the prayer was to be held in congregation. The Prophet performed two bowing in one rak`a. Then he stood up and performed two bowing in one rak`a. Then he sat down and finished the prayer; and by then the (eclipse) had cleared `Aisha said, "I had never performed such a long prostration."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Abd ar- Rahman ibn Hurmuz that Abdullah ibn Buhayna said, "The Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed dhuhr with us and he stood straight up after two rakas without sitting. When he had finished the prayer, he did two sajdas and then said the taslim after that."

Malik said, concerning someone who forgot in his prayer and stood up after he had completed four rakas and recited and then went into ruku and then, when he raised his head from ruku, remembered that he had already completed (his prayer), "He returns to a sitting position and does not do any sajda. If he has already done one sajda I do not think he should do the other. Then when his prayer is finished he does two sajdas from the sitting position after saying the taslim."

The Prophet said, "The Imam is to be followed. Say the Takbir when he says it; bow if he bows; if he says 'Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah', say, ' Rabbana wa laka l-hamd', prostrate if he prostrates and pray sitting altogether if he prays sitting."

The Prophet (saws) taught me fifteen prostrations while reciting the Qur'an, including three in al-Mufassal and two in Surah al-Hajj.

Abu Dawud said: Abu al-Darda' has reported eleven prostrations from the Prophet (saws), but chain of this tradition is weak.

When the Prophet of Allah (saws) saw the new moon, he said: "a new moon of good and right guidance; a new moon of good and right guidance; a new moon of good and right guidance. I believe in Him Who created you" three times. He would then say: "Praise be to Allah Who has made such and such a month to pass and has brought such and such a month."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from al-Araj that Abdullah ibn Buhayna said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed two rakas with us and then stood without sitting and the people stood with him. When he had finished the prayerand we had seen him say the taslim, he said 'Allah is greater' and did two sajdas from the sitting position and then said the taslim again."

I spent a night with the Prophet (saws) to see how he prayed. He got up, performed ablution and prayed two rak'ahs. His standing was like his bowing (i.e. equal in duration), and his bowing was like his prostration (equal in length). Then he slept. Afterwards he awoke, performed ablution, and used tooth-stick. He then recited five verses from Surah Al-'Imran : "In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day". He went on doing so till he prayed ten rak'ahs. He then stood up and prayed one rak'ah observing witr with it. In the meantime the mu'adhdhin called to prayer. The Messenger of Allah (saws) stood up after the mu'adhdhin had kept silent. He prayed two light rak'ahs and remained sitting till he offered the dawn prayer.

Abu Dawud said: A part of the tradition transmitted by Ibn Bashshar remained hidden from me.

Allah's Apostle got up after the second rak`a of the Zuhr prayer without sitting in between (the second and the third rak`at). When he finished the prayer he performed two prostrations (of Sahu) and then finished the prayer with Taslim.

The Prophet led us in the `Asr or the Zuhr prayer and finished it with Taslim. Dhul-Yadain said to him, "O Allah's Apostle! Has the prayer been reduced?" The Prophet asked his companions in the affirmative. So Allah's Apostle I offered two more rak`at and then performed two prostrations (of Sahu). Sa`d said, "I saw that 'Urwa bin Az-Zubair had offered two rak`at in the Maghrib prayer and finished it with Taslim. He then talked (and when he was informed about it) he completed the rest of his prayer and performed two prostrations, and said, 'The Prophet prayed like this.' "

When Allah's Apostle performed Tawaf of the Ka`ba for Hajj or `Umra, he used to do Ramal during the first three rounds, and in the last four rounds he used to walk; then after the Tawaf he used to offer two rak`at and then performed Tawaf between Safa and Marwa.

The Prophet prayed (and the sub-narrator Ibrahim said, "I do not know whether he prayed more or less than usual"), and when he had finished the prayers he was asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Has there been any change in the prayers?" He said, "What is it?' The people said, "You have prayed so much and so much." So the Prophet bent his legs, faced the Qibla and performed two prostration's (of Sahu) and finished his prayers with Taslim (by turning his face to right and left saying: 'As-Salamu `Alaikum- Warahmat-ullah'). When he turned his face to us he said, "If there had been anything changed in the prayer, surely I would have informed you but I am a human being like you and liable to forget like you. So if I forget remind me and if anyone of you is doubtful about his prayer, he should follow what he thinks to be correct and complete his prayer accordingly and finish it and do two prostrations (of Sahu).

When the Prophet (saws) finished two rak'ahs of an obligatory prayer, a man asked him: Messenger of Allah, has the prayer been shortened, or have you forgotten? he replied: I did not do all that. The people said: Messenger of Allah, you did that. Therefore, he offered another two rak'ahs or prayer and did not make two prostrations due to forgetfulness.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been narrated by Dawud al-Hussain from Abu Sufyan, freed slave of Ibn Abi Ahmad on the authority of Abu Hurairah from the Prophet (saws). This version goes: He then made two prostrations while he was sitting after the salutation.

None embraced Islam, except on the day I embraced it. And for seven days I was one of the three persons who were Muslims (one-third of Islam).

The commencement of (the Divine Inspirations to) Allah's Apostle was in the form of true dreams. The Angel came to him and said, "Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created all exists), has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is Most Generous, Who has taught (the writing) by the pen. (96.1-4)

The Prophet said, "The example of Muslims, Jews and Christians is like the example of a man who employed laborers to work for him from morning till night for specific wages. They worked till midday and then said, 'We do not need your money which you have fixed for us and let whatever we have done be annulled.' The man said to them, 'Don't quit the work, but complete the rest of it and take your full wages.' But they refused and went away. The man employed another batch after them and said to them, 'Complete the rest of the day and yours will be the wages I had fixed for the first batch.' So, they worked till the time of `Asr prayer. Then they said, "Let what we have done be annulled and keep the wages you have promised us for yourself.' The man said to them, 'Complete the rest of the work, as only a little of the day remains,' but they refused. Thereafter he employed another batch to work for the rest of the day and they worked for the rest of the day till the sunset, and they received the wages of the two former batches. So, that was the example of those people (Muslims) and the example of this light (guidance) which they have accepted willingly.

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, Verily Allah created Mercy. The day He created it, He made it into one hundred parts. He withheld with Him ninety-nine parts, and sent its one part to all His creatures. Had the non-believer known of all the Mercy which is in the Hands of Allah, he would not lose hope of entering Paradise, and had the believer known of all the punishment which is present with Allah, he would not consider himself safe from the Hell-Fire."

The Prophet said, "Jesus, seeing a man stealing, asked him, 'Did you steal?, He said, 'No, by Allah, besides Whom there is none who has the right to be worshipped' Jesus said, 'I believe in Allah and suspect my eyes."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Talhafrom Uthman ibn Abd ar-Rahman that his father related to him that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab used to wash what was beneath his waist wrapper with water.

Yahya said that Malik was asked what a man should do if, when he did wudu, he forgot and washed his face before he had rinsed his mouth, or washed his forearms before he had washed his face. He said, "If someone washes his face before rinsing his mouth, he should rinse his mouth and not wash his face again. If someone washes his forearms before his face, however, he should wash his forearms again so that he has washed them after his face. This is if he is still near the place (of wudu)."

Yahya said that Malik was asked about what a man should do if he had forgotten to rinse his mouth and nose until he had prayed, and he said, "He does not have to repeat the prayer, but should rinse his mouth and nose if he wishes to do any more prayers after that."