Allah's Apostle entered the mosque and a person followed him. The man prayed and went to the Prophet and greeted him. The Prophet returned the greeting and said to him, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed." The man went back prayed in the same way as before, returned and greeted the Prophet who said, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed." This happened thrice. The man said, "By Him Who sent you with the Truth, I cannot offer the prayer in a better way than this. Please, teach me how to pray." The Prophet said, "When you stand for Prayer say Takbir and then recite from the Holy Qur'an (of what you know by heart) and then bow till you feel at ease. Then raise your head and stand up straight, then prostrate till you feel at ease during your prostration, then sit with calmness till you feel at ease (do not hurry) and do the same in all your prayers.

Once the Prophet entered the mosque, a man came in, offered the prayer and greeted the Prophet. The Prophet returned his greeting and said to him, "Go back and pray again for you have not prayed." The man offered the prayer again, came back and greeted the Prophet. He said to him thrice, "Go back and pray again for you have not prayed." The man said, "By Him Who has sent you with the truth! I do not know a better way of praying. Kindly teach Me how to pray." He said, "When you stand for the prayer, say Takbir and then recite from the Qur'an what you know and then bow with calmness till you feel at ease, then rise from bowing till you stand straight. Afterwards prostrate calmly till you feel at ease and then raise (your head) and sit with Calmness till you feel at ease and then prostrate with calmness till you feel at ease in prostration and do the same in the whole of your prayer."

One of the sons of Abu Talha became sick and died and Abu Talha at that time was not at home. When his wife saw that he was dead, she prepared him (washed and shrouded him) and placed him somewhere in the house. When Abu Talha came, he asked, "How is the boy?" She said, "The child is quiet and I hope he is in peace." Abu Talha thought that she had spoken the truth. Abu Talha passed the night and in the morning took a bath and when he intended to go out, she told him that his son had died, Abu Talha offered the (morning) prayer with the Prophet and informed the Prophet of what happened to them. Allah's Apostle said, "May Allah bless you concerning your night. (That is, may Allah bless you with good offspring)." Sufyan said, "One of the Ansar said, 'They (i.e. Abu Talha and his wife) had nine sons and all of them became reciters of the Qur'an (by heart).' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Abdullah ibn Masud said to a certain man, "You are in a time when men of understanding (fuqaha) are many and Qur'an reciters are few, when the limits of behaviour defined in the Qur'an are guarded and its letters are lost, when few people ask and many give, when they make the prayer long and the khutba short, and put their actions before their desires. A time will come upon men when their fuqaha are few but their Qur'an reciters are many, when the letters of the Qur'an are guarded carefully but its limits are lost, when many ask but few give, when they make the khutba long but the prayer short, and put their desires before their actions."

I saw Allah's Apostle on the day (of the battle) of the Trench carrying earth till the hair of his chest were covered with dust and he was a hairy man. He was reciting the following verses of `Abdullah (bin Rawaha): "O Allah, were it not for You, We would not have been guided, Nor would we have given in charity, nor prayed. So, bestow on us calmness, and when we meet the enemy. Then make our feet firm, for indeed, Yet if they want to put us in affliction, (i.e. want to fight against us) we would not (flee but withstand them)." The Prophet used to raise his voice while reciting these verses. (See Hadith No. 432, Vol. 5).

Abdullah ibn Ubaydullah said: I went to Ibn Abbas accompanying some youths of Banu Hashim. We said to one of them: Ask Ibn Abbas: Did the Messenger of Allah (saws) recite (the Qur'an) in the noon and afternoon prayers? He replied: No. People said to him: Perhaps he might recite the Qur'an quietly. He said: May your face be scratched (a kind of curse)! This (statement) is worse than the former.

He was only a servant (of Allah) receiving Commands from Him. He preached (the divine) message which he brought with him. He did not command anything to us (Banu Hashim) specially excluding other people except three points: he commanded us to perform ablution perfectly, and not to accept charity (sadaqah) and not to make pairing of donkey with horse.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih.

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.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ibn Ukayma al-Laythi from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, finished a prayer in which he had recited aloud and asked, "Did any of you recite with me just now?" One man said, "Yes, I did, Messenger of Allah." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I was saying to myself, 'Why am I distracted from the Qur'an?' " When the people heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say that, they refrained from reciting with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when he recited aloud.

When the Prophet, became ill in his fatal illness, Someone came to inform him about the prayer, and the Prophet told him to tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in the prayer. I said, "Abu Bakr is a softhearted man and if he stands for the prayer in your place, he would weep and would not be able to recite the Qur'an." The Prophet said, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the prayer." I said the same as before. He (repeated the same order and) on the third or the fourth time he said, "You are the companions of Joseph. Tell Abu Bakr to lead the prayer." So Abu Bakr led the prayer and meanwhile the Prophet felt better and came out with the help of two men; as if I see him just now dragging his feet on the ground. When Abu Bakr saw him, he tried to retreat but the Prophet beckoned him to carry on. Abu Bakr retreated a bit and the Prophet sat on his (left) side. Abu Bakr was repeating the Takbir (Allahu Akbar) of Allah's Apostle for the people to hear.

A man entered the mosque and started praying while Allah's Apostle was sitting somewhere in the mosque. Then (after finishing the prayer) the man came to the Prophet and greeted him. The Prophet said to him, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed. The man went back, and having prayed, he came and greeted the Prophet. The Prophet after returning his greetings said, "Go back and pray, for you did not pray." On the third time the man said, "(O Allah's Apostle!) teach me (how to pray)." The Prophet said, "When you get up for the prayer, perform the ablution properly and then face the Qibla and say Takbir (Allahu Akbar), and then recite of what you know of the Qur'an, and then bow, and remain in this state till you feel at rest in bowing, and then raise your head and stand straight; and then prostrate till you feel at rest in prostration, and then sit up till you feel at rest while sitting; and then prostrate again till you feel at rest in prostration; and then get up and stand straight, and do all this in all your prayers."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az- Zubayr from A'isha that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when he had a complaint, would recite the last three suras of Qur'an, over himself and blow. She said, "When his pain was great, I would recite it over him and wipe him with his right hand hoping for its blessing."