that the Prophet (SAW) said: "My Lord, Blessed is He and Most High, came to me in the best of appearances. So he said: 'O Muhammad!' I said: 'Here I am O my Lord! And I am at Your service.' He said: 'What is it that the most exalted group busy themselves with?' I said: '[Lord] I do not know.' So He placed His Hand between my shoulders, until I sensed its coolness between my breast, so I knew what was in between the east and the west. He said: 'O Muhammad!' I said: 'Here I am O my Lord! And I am at Your service.' He said: 'What is it that the most exalted group busy themselves with?' I said: 'In the acts that raise ranks and the acts that atone, and in recording the footsteps to the congregation, Isbagh Al-Wudu in difficulties, and awaiting the Salat after the Salat. And whoever preserves them, he shall live in goodness and die upon goodness, and his sins shall be like that on the day upon which his mother bore him.'"

A woman from the tribe Juhainah came to Messenger of Allah (PBUH) while she was pregnant from (Zina) adultery and said to him: "O Messenger of Allah! I have committed an offense liable to Hadd (prescribed punishment), so exact the execution of the sentence." Messenger of Allah (PBUH) called her guardian and said to him, "Treat her kindly. Bring her to me after the delivery of the child." That man complied with the orders. At last the Prophet (PBUH) commanded to carry out the sentence. Her clothes were secured around her and she was stoned to death. The Prophet (PBUH) led her funeral prayers. 'Umar submitted: "O Messenger of Allah! She committed Zina and you have performed funeral prayer for her?" He replied, "Verily, she made repentance which would suffice for seventy of the people of Al-Madinah if it is divided among them. Can there be any higher degree of repentance than that she sacrificed her life voluntarily to win the Pleasure of Allah, the Exalted?".

[Muslim].

Some people said to Messenger of Allah (PBUH): "O Messenger of Allah, the rich have taken away (all the) reward. They observe Salat (prayers) as we do; and give Sadaqah (charity) out of their surplus wealth." Upon this he (the Prophet (PBUH)) said, "Has Allah not prescribed for you (a course) following which you can (also) give Sadaqah? In every declaration of the glorification of Allah (i.e., saying Subhan Allah) there is a Sadaqah, and in every Takbir (i.e., saying Allahu Akbar) is a Sadaqah, and in every celebration of praise (saying Al-hamdu lillah) is a Sadaqah, and in every declaration that He is One (La ilaha illallah) is a Sadaqah, and in enjoining of good is a Sadaqah, and in forbidding evil is a Sadaqah, and in man's sexual intercourse (with his wife) there is a Sadaqah." They (the Companions) said: "O Messenger of Allah, is there reward for him who satisfies his sexual need among us?" He said, "You see, if he were to satisfy it with something forbidden, would it not be a sin on his part? Similarly, if he were to satisfy it legally, he should be rewarded".

[Muslim].

Some of the poor Emigrants came to Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and said to him, "The wealthy have obtained all high ranks and everlasting bliss." He asked, "How is that?" They replied: "They offer Salaah as we do, and observe Saum (fasting) as we do, but they give in Sadaqah (charity) and we do not, and they emancipate slaves and we cannot." He (PBUH) said, "Shall I not teach you something whereby you will catch up with those who have preceded you and will get ahead of those who follow you, and no one will surpass you unless he does the same as you do?" They said, "Surely, O Messenger of Allah." He said, "Say: Subhan Allah, and Allahu Akbar, and praise Him (by saying Al-hamdu lillah) thirty-three times at the end of every Salaah." They returned to him and said: "Our brothers, the possessors of wealth, having heard what we are doing, have started doing the same." Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "This is Grace of Allah which He gives to whom He wishes."

[Al- Bukhari and Muslim].

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Whenever you intend to go to bed, perform Wudu' as is done for Salat (prayer); and then lie down on the right side and recite: 'Allahumma aslamtu nafsi ilaika, wa fawwadtu amri ilaika, wal-ja'tu zahri ilaika, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika, la malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilaika, amantu bikitabik-alladhi anzalta, wa binabiyyik-alladhi arsalta [O Allah! I have submitted myself to You. I have turned my face to You, entrusted my affairs to You and relied completely on You out of desire for and fear of You (expecting Your reward and fearing Your punishment). There is no resort and no deliverer from (hardships) except You. I affirm my faith in Your Book which You have revealed, and in Your Prophet whom You have sent].' If you die during the night, you will die in the true religion. Let these words be your last words at night."

[Al- Bukhari and Muslim].

When the Khawarij rebelled and fought in An-Nahrawan, ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) stood before his companions and said: These people have shed blood that it is forbidden to shed and have raided the flocks of the people. They are the closest of the enemy to you, but if you go to your enemy, I am afraid that these people may attack what you leave behind. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `Some rebels will emerge from my ummah, your prayer will be as nothing compared to their prayer, and your fasting will be as nothing compared to their fasting, and your recitation will be as nothing compared to their recitation. They will recite the Qur`an, thinking that it is in their favour, but it will be against them; it will go no further than their throats. They will pass out of Islam as the arrow passes out of the prey. The sign of that is that among them will be a man who has an upper arm but no forearm, and on it will be something like the nipple of a breast, on which will be some white hairs.` If the army that fights them knew what reward they will have, as spoken on the lips of their Prophet (ﷺ), they would cease striving and rely on that. March forth in the Name of Allah. And he narrated the hadeeth at length.

‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr b. al-‘As told of God’s messenger saying to him, “Have I not been informed, ‘Abdallah, that you fast during the day and get up at night for prayer?” [Mirqat explains this as meaning all night.] When he replied that that was so, he said, “Do not do it. Fast and break your fast, get up for prayer and sleep, for you have a duty to your body, your eye, your wife, and your visitors. May he who observe a perpetual fast never fast!* Fasting three days every month is equivalent to a perpetual fast. Fast three days every month and recite the Qur'an every month.” When he replied that he was able to do more than that, he said, “Observe the most excellent fast, that of David, fasting every second day, and recite the Qur’an once every seven nights, but do no more than that.” * Cf. the similar phrase in the tradition of Abu Qatada (p.434). Some hold that the meaning here is, ‘He who observes a perpetual fast has not fasted.’ (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ibn Shihab said Salim told him that in the year al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf attacked Ibn az-Zubair (Abdallah b. az-Zubair who was in Mecca had laid claims to the Caliphate. ‘Abd al-Malik, the Umayvad Caliph, sent an army under al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf towards the end of 72, A.H. to deal with Ibn az-Zubair, and although there had been fighting in the plain of ‘Arafat, hostilities ceased in order that the Pilgrimage might be observed, and were later resumed.) he asked ‘Abdallah (This is ‘Abdallah b. ‘Umar who is said to have been the one who was the means of having the hostilities stopped during the season of pilgrimage) how they were to act at the standing at ‘Arafa. Salim said, “If you wish to keep to the sunna, observe the prayer in the noonday heat on the day of ‘Arafa.” ‘Abdallah b. ‘Umar then said, “He has spoken the truth ; they were accustomed to combine the noon and the afternoon prayer in accordance with the sunna.” Ibn Shihab asked Salim whether God's messenger did that, and Salim replied, “In doing that do they follow anything but his sunna?” Bukhari transmitted it.

He asked, "Muhammad, do you know what the angels near My presence dispute about?" I replied, "Yes, about expiations, and they are remaining in the mosques after the prayers are over, walking on foot to the congregational prayers, and performing elaborate ablution in unpleasant circumstances (Cf. p. 151). Whoever does that will live and die righteously, and as far as his sin is concerned, he will be as he was on the day his mother gave birth to him." He said, "Muhammad, when you pray say, ‘O God, I ask Thee to enable me to do good deeds, abandon objectionable things, and love the poor, and when Thou intendest to test Thy servants, take me to Thyself without being led astray.'" He said, "People are raised in degree by saluting all and sundry, providing food, and praying at night when people are asleep." The wording of this tradition is as it occurs in al-Masabih, but I found it traced to ‘Abd ar-Rahman only in Sharh as-sunna.

Humaid b. ‘Abd ar-Rahman b. ‘Auf said that one of the companions of the Prophet told how he decided when he was on a journey along with God’s Messenger that he must watch his prayer to see how he conducted it. When he had prayed the evening prayer, which is the 'atama, he lay down for a long period during the night, then awoke, looked at the horizon and said, “Our Lord, Thou hast not created this in vain…verily Thou dost not break Thy promise” (Al-Qur’an; 3:191,194). Then God's Messenger went to his couch from which he took out a toothstick, then poured out some water into a bowl from a skin vessel beside him, cleaned his teeth, and stood up and prayed, till it appeared to me that he prayed as long as he had slept. Then he lay down till it appeared to me that he slept as long as he had prayed. Then awakening and doing as he did the first time, he said the same as he had said. He did that three times before the dawn. Nasa’i transmitted it.

I agreed with my Lord[1] regarding three matters. I said, "Messenger of God, would that we could take Abraham's station as a place of prayer!" and the revelation came down, "And take Abraham's station as a place of prayer[2]." I said, "Messenger of God, both pious and profligate come in where your women are. If only you would order them to seclude themselves!" Then the verse about secluding came down[3]. The Prophet's wives united in jealousy and I said, "Perhaps if he divorces you his Lord will give him better wives than you in place of you." Then a revelation to that effect came down[4]. In a version by Ibn `Umar he told that 'Umar said: I agreed with my Lord regarding three matters, Abraham's station, the seclusion, and the prisoners at Badr. i.e., he expressed opinions which were found to agree with Quran verses revealed later. Cf. Quran. 2: 125. Cf. Quran, 33:53. Cf. Quran, 66:5. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

"When Sa'd bin Hisham bin Amir came to visit us, he told us that he came to Ibn Abbas and asked him about the witr of the Messenger of Allah (SAW). He said: 'Shall I not tell you of the most knowledgeable person on Earth about the witr of the Messenger of Allah (SAW)?' I said: 'Who?' He said: 'Aishah.' So we went to her and greeted her with Salam and entered and asked her. I said: 'Tell me about the witr of the Messenger of Allah (SAW).' She said: 'We used to prepare for him his siwak and water for wudu, then Allah (SWT) would wake him when He willed to wake him at night. He would clean his teeth and perform wudu, then he would pray nine rak'ahs, during which he would not sit until the eighth. Then he would praise Allah (SWT) and remember Him and supplicate, then he would get up and not say the taslim. Then he would pray the ninth, then sit and praise Allah (SWT) and remember Him and supplicate, then he would say a taslim that we could hear. Then he prayed two rak'ahs sitting, and that was eleven rak'ahs, O my son. When the Messenger of Allah (SAW) grew older and put on weight, he prayed witr with seven, then he prayed two rak'ahs sitting after saying the taslim, and that was nine, O my son. And when the Messenger of Allah (SAW) offered a prayer, he liked to persist in offering it.'"

"While we were sitting in the Masjid, a man came on a camel and made it keneel in the Masjid, then he hobbled it and said to them: 'Which of you is Muhammad?' The Messenger of Allah was reclining amid his Companions, and we said to him: This white man who is reclining.' The man said to him: 'O son of 'Abdul-Muttalib.' The Messenger of Allah said: ' I have answered you.' The man said; 'O Muhammad, I am going to ask you questions, and I will be harsh in asking; do not get upset.; The man said: 'I adjure you by your Lord and the Lord of those who cam before you, has Allah sent you to all the people?' The Messenger of Allah said: 'By Allah, yes.' He said; 'I adjure you by Allah, has Allah commanded you to offer five prayers each day and night?' The Messenger of Allah said: 'By Allah, yes.; He said: 'I adjure you by Allah, has Allah commanded you to fast this month each year? The Messenger of Allah said: 'By Allah, Yes.' He said: 'I adjure you by Allah, has Allah commanded you to take this charity from our rich and distribute it among our poor?' The Messenger of Allah said. 'By Allah, yes.' The man said: 'I believe in that which you have brought, and I am the envoy of my people who are coming after me. I am Dimam bin Thalabah, the brother of Banu sad bin Bakr."' Yaqub bin Ibrahim contradicted him.

a man from among the Bedouins came to the Prophet and believed in him and followed him, then he said: "I will emigrate with you." The Prophet told one of his Companions to look after him. During one battle the Prophet got some prisoners as spoils of war, and he distributed them, giving him (that Bedouin) a share. His Companions gave him what had been allocated to him. He had been looking after some livestock for them, and when he came they gave him his share. He said: "What is this?" They said: "A share that the Prophet has allocated to you." He took it and brought it to the Prophet and said: "What is this?" He said: "I allocated it to you." He said: "It is not for this that I followed you. Rather I followed you so that I might be shot here - and he pointed to his throat - with an arrow and die and enter Paradise." He said, "If you are sincere toward Allah, Allah will fulfill your wish." Shortly after that, they got up to fight the enemy, and he was brought to the Prophet, whom he had pointed to. The Prophet said, "Is it him?" They said, "Yes." He said, "He was sincere toward Allah, and Allah fulfilled his wish." Then the Prophet shrouded him in his own cloak and out him in front of him and offered the (funeral) prayer for him. During his supplication he said: "O Allah, this is Your slave who went out as a emigrant (Muhajir) for your sake and was killed as a martyr; I am a witness to that.

The Messenger of Allah said: "The key to prayer is purification, its opening is to say Allahu Akbar and its closing is to say As-salamu 'alaikum."

"Some meat from the shoulder of a sheep was brought to the Messenger of Allah and he ate some of it, then he performed prayer without touching water (for ablution)."

"The Messenger of Allah said: 'If anyone of you needs to defecate and the immediate call to prayer (Iqamah) is given, let him start with (relieving himself).'"

"The Messenger of Allah was asked about menstrual blood that gets on clothing. He said: 'Rub it off, wash it and perform prayer in (the garment).'"

“Prayer should be done with Iqamah.”

“The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ‘No person should lead others in prayer, then supplicate only for himself and not for them. If he does that, he has betrayed them.’”

“I saw the Messenger of Allah (saw) performing prayer in a single garment, wrapping himself in it and throwing the ends over his shoulders.”

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The sun and the moon do not become eclipsed for the death of anyone among mankind. If you see that, then stand and perform prayer.”

It was narrated from Muhammad bin ‘Ubaidullah bin Abu Rafi’, from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (saw) used to come to ‘Eid prayers walking.

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that when the Prophet (saw) went out to ‘Eid (prayers), he would return via another route than the first one he took.

“I heard the Messenger of Allah (SAW) say: ‘The (funeral) prayer should be offered for a child.’”

“The Prophet (SAW) said: ‘Offer the (funeral) prayer for your children, for they have gone ahead of you (i.e. to prepare your place in Paradise for you).”

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) offered the funeral prayer, then he came to the grave of the deceased and scattered three handfuls of earth from the side of (the deceased’s) head.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Afif ibn Amr as-Sahmi that Ata ibn Yasar said, "I asked Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As and Kab al Ahbar about someone who was uncertain in his prayer, and did not know whether he had prayed three or four rakas. Both of them said, 'He should pray another raka and then do two sajdas from the sitting position.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned the day of jumua and said, "There is a time in it when Allah gives to a muslim slave standing in prayer whatever he asks for," and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, indicated with his hand how small it was.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Urwa ibn az-Zubayr and Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar Rahman used to pray nawafil when travelling.

Yahya said that Malik was asked about voluntary prayers when travelling and he said, "There is no harm in them, either at night or during the day. I have heard that some of the people of knowledge used to do that."

'As long as you do not feel ashamed, do whatever you wish', the placing of one hand on the other in prayer (one places the right hand on the left), being quick to break the fast, and delaying the meal before dawn."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talha from Zufar ibn Sasaca from his father from Abu Hurayra that when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, left the morning prayer, he would say, "Has any of you had a dream last night? All that will remain of prophecy after me will be the true dream ."

Allah's Messenger said: "When Allah's Messenger wanted to turn from his Salat, he would seek forgiveness from Allah three times, then say: (Allahumma Antas-Salam, wa minkas-salam, tabarakta ya dhal-jalali wal-Ikram) 'O Allah! You are the One free of defects and perfection is from You. Blessed are You, O Possesor of Majesty and Honor.'"

"I asked her about the voluntary Salat of Allah's Messenger (S), she said: 'He would pray long into the night standing, and long into the night sitting. So when he recited and he was standing, he would bow and prostrate whole he was standing, and when he recited while he was sitting, he bowed and prostrated while he was sitting.'"

"When the Prophet arrived in Makkah, he performed seven (circuits) of Tawaf around the House. Then he came to the Maqam and said: And take you (people) the Maqam (place) of Ibrahim as a place of prayer. Then he prayed behind the Maqam. Then he came to the (Black) Stone to touch it. Then he said: 'We begin with what Allah began with.' So he began at As-Safa and recited: Indeed As-Safa and Al-Marwah are among the Symbols of Allah."

that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: "I have been ordered to fight the people until they bear witness to La Ilaha Illallah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, and they face our Qiblah, eat our slaughtered (meat), and perform our Salat. And if they do that, then their blood and wealth will be unlawful to us, except with its due right. For them shall be whatever is for the Muslims, and they shall be obliged with that which the Muslims are obliged."

I heard Messenger of Allah (PBUH) during the sermon of the Farewell Pilgrimage saying, "Be mindful of your duty to Allah; perform your five daily Salat, observe Saum during the month (of Ramadan) , pay the Zakat on your properties and obey your leaders; (if you do so) you will enter the Jannah of your Rubb".

[At-Tirmidhi, who categorized it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

The Prophet (PBUH) said, "You will have rulers some of whom you approve and some of whom you will disapprove. He who dislikes them will be safe, and he who expresses disapproval will be safe, but he who is pleased and follows them (will be indeed sinful)". His audience asked: "Shall we not fight them?" He replied, "No, as long as they establish Salat amongst you".

[Muslim].

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) took hold of my hand and said, "O Mu'adh! By Allah I love you, so I advise you to never forget to recite after every prayer: "Allahumma a'inni ala dhikrika, wa shukrika, wa husni 'ibadatika (O Allah, help me remember You, to be grateful to You, and to worship You in an excellent manner)."

[Abu Dawud].

O people, I have taken a wife in Makkah since I came here, and I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)say: “Whoever takes a wife in a city should offer the prayer of one who is a resident (i.e., in full).

I was a man who emitted a great deal of madhi and I started to do ghusl in the winter, until the skin of my back became cracked. I mentioned that to the Prophet (ﷺ), or it was mentioned to him, and he said: “Do not do that. If you see madhi, then wash your private part and do wudoo’ as for prayer, but if water gushes out, then do ghusl.`

‘Uthman b. Abul-'As said he told God’s messenger that the devil interfered with his prayer and his recitation of the Qur’an, causing confusion in his mind, and God’s messenger replied, “That is a devil called Khinzab; so when you feel his presence seek refuge from him in God and spit three times on your left side.” ‘Uthman did so and God caused him to depart from him. Muslim transmitted it.

I put on the ihram at at-Tan‘im for an ’umra , then entered and performed my ’umra . God’s messenger waited for me in al-Abtah till I had finished, then ordered the people to move on. He set out, and when passing the House he performed the circumambulation before the morning prayer, then went off to Medina. I did not find this tradition in what the two shaikhs transmitted, but in Abu Dawud’s version, with a slight difference at the end.

Ibn Mas'ud said that a man kissed a woman and came and told the Prophet. Then God revealed, “And observe the prayer at the two ends of the day and the neighbouring parts of the night, for good deeds remove evil deeds (Al- Qur’an, 11:114).”’ The man asked God’s Messenger whether this referred to him, and he replied, “It refers to every one of my whole people.” A version has, “To those of my people who act upon it.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

I asked the Prophet which action is dearest to God and he replied, “Prayer at its proper time.” I asked what came next, and he replied that it was kindness to parents. I asked what came next and he replied that it was jihad in God's path. He said, “He told me of them, and if I had asked for more he would have told me more.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

I was with Mu'awiyah when his mu’adhdhin called the adhan, and Mu'awiya repeated the mu’adhdhin’s words, but when he said, “Come to prayer, he said, “There is no might and no power except in God,” and when he said, “Come to salvation,” he said, “There is no might and no power except in God the High, the Mighty.” After that he repeated the mu’adhdhin’s words, then said, “I heard God’s Messenger say that.” Ahmad transmitted it.

Muhammad b. al-Munkadir said that Jabir led them in prayer in [his] lower garment which he had tied at the nape of his neck, his clothes being placed on the clothes-stand. Someone said to him, “You are praying in a single garment.” He replied, “I did that only that a fool like you might see me. Which of us had two garments in the time of God’s Messenger?” Bukhari transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that the Prophet used to teach them this prayer just as he used to teach them a sura of the Qur’an, telling them te say, “O God, I seek refuge in Thee from the punishment in jahannam, I seek refuge in Thee from the punishment in the grave, I seek refuge in Thee from the trial of the antichrist, and I seek refuge in Thee from the trial of life and death.” Muslim transmitted it.

‘Abdallah b. Umm Maktum said, “Messenger of God, there are many venomous creatures and wild beasts in Medina, and I am blind, so are you able to grant me any licence?” He asked whether he could hear the call, “Come to prayer. Come to salvation,” and when he replied that he could, he said, “Then you must come,” and he gave him no indulgence. Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

We came to Ibn ‘Umar at al- Balat* when the people were praying, and I remarked on the fact that he was not praying along with the people. He replied that he had already prayed and that he had heard God’s Messenger say, “Do not pray a prayer twice on the same day.” * A square paved with stones between the Prophet's mosque and the market-place in Medina. Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.