(the mother of the faithful believers) I never saw Allah's Apostle offering the night prayer while sitting except in his old age and then he used to recite while sitting and whenever he wanted to bow he would get up and recite thirty or forty verses (while standing) and then bow.

Regarding His (Allah's) Statement:-- 'Move not your tongue concerning (the Qur'an) to make haste therewith.' (75.16) And whenever Gabriel descended to Allah's Apostle with the Divine Inspiration, Allah's Apostle used to move his tongue and lips, and that used to be hard for him, and one could easily recognize that he was being inspired Divinely. So Allah revealed the Verse which occurs in the Surah starting with "I do swear by the Day of Resurrection.' (75.1) i.e. 'Move not your tongue concerning (the Qur'an) to make haste then with. It is for Us to collect it (in your mind) (O Muhammad) an give you the ability to recite it 'by heart.' (75.16-17) which means: It is for us to collect it (in your mind) and give you the ability to recite it by heart. And when We have recited it to you (O Muhammad) through Gabriel then follow you its recital. (75.18) means: 'When We reveal it (the Qur'an) to you, Listen to it.' for then: It is for Us to explain it and make it clear to you' (75.19) i.e. It is up to Us to explain it through your tongue. So, when Gabriel came to him, Allah's Apostle would listen to him attentively, and as soon as Gabriel left, he would recite the Revelations, as Allah had promised him.

(the wife of the Prophet) I had seen my parents following Islam since I attained the age of intelligence. Not a day passed but the Prophet visited us, both in the mornings and evenings. My father Abu Bakr thought of building a mosque in the courtyard of his house and he did so. He used to pray and recite the Qur'an in it. The pagan women and their children used to stand by him and look at him with surprise. Abu Bakr was a soft-hearted person and could not help weeping while reciting the Qur'an. The chiefs of the Quraish pagans became afraid of that (i.e. that their children and women might be affected by the recitation of Qur'an).

I offered the `Isha' prayer behind Abu Huraira and he recited, "Idha s-samaa'u n-shaqqat" (84) and prostrated. On my inquiring, he said, "I prostrated behind Abul-Qasim (the Prophet) (when he recited that Sura) and I will go on doing it till I meet him."

Once I prayed the `Isha' prayer with Abu Huraira and he recited, "Idha s-samaa'u n-shaqqat" (84) and prostrated. I said, "What is that?" He said, "I prostrated behind Abul-Qasim, (the Prophet) (when he recited that Sura) and I will go on doing it till I meet him."

When `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul died, Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) was called upon to offer his funeral prayer. When Allah's Apostle stood up to offer the prayer, I got up quickly and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Are you going to pray for Ibn Ubai and he said so and so on such and such occasions?" And started mentioning all that he had said. Allah's Apostle smiled and said, "O `Umar! Go away from me." When I talked too much he said, "I have been given the choice and so I have chosen (to offer the prayer). Had I known that he would be forgiven by asking for Allah's forgiveness for more than seventy times, surely I would have done so." (`Umar added): Allah's Apostle offered his funeral prayer and returned and after a short while the two verses of Surat Bara' were revealed: i.e. "And never (O Muhammad) pray for any of them who dies . . . (to the end of the verse) rebellion (9.84)" -- (`Umar added), "Later I astonished at my daring before Allah's Apostle on that day. And Allah and His Apostle know better."

The Qunut used to be recited in the Maghrib and the Fajr prayers.

Shu'bah said: I heard 'Uthman from the family of Abu 'Aqeel athThaqafi say--but he said. Shu'bah said: And he recited one of these two verses: `whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof` [an-Nisa'4:110] or “And those who, when they have committed Fahishah (illegal sexual intercourse)...` [Al 'Imran 3:135).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to recite: "In the name of Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; most Gracious, most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment," breaking its recitation into verses, one after another.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) say: The early reading is: Maliki yawmi'l-din.

The Prophet recited Suratan-Najm (103) at Mecca and prostrated while reciting it and those who were with him did the same except an old man who took a handful of small stones or earth and lifted it to his forehead and said, "This is sufficient for me." Later on, I saw him killed as a non-believer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ya'qub that he heard Abu's-Sa'ib, the mawla of Hisham ibn Zuhra, say he had heard Abu Hurayra say, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Whoever prays a prayer without reciting the umm al-Qur'an in it, his prayer is aborted, it is aborted, it is aborted, incomplete.' So I said, 'Abu Hurayra, sometimes I am behind the imam.'Hepulled my forearm and said, 'Recite it to yourself, O Persian, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say that Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, "I have divided the prayer into two halves between me and my slave. One half of it is for Me and one half of it is for IVly slave, and My slave has what he asks." ' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Recite." The slave says, 'Praise be to AIIah, the Lord of theWorlds.' Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, says, 'My slave has praised Me.' The slave says, 'The Merciful, the Compassionate.' Allah says, 'My slave has spoken well of Me.' The slave says, 'Master of the Day of the Deen.' Allah says, 'My slave has glorified Me.' The slave says, 'You alone we worship and You alone we askforhelp.'Allahsays,'This ayat is between Me and My slave, and for My slave is what he asks. 'The slave says, 'Guide us in the straight Path, the Path of those whom You have blessed, not of those with whom You are angry, nor those who are in error. ' Allah says, 'These are for My slaves, and for my slave is what he asks . ' " ' "

Abu Dawud said: The narrators other than Qutaibah said: This refer to his bath due to sexual defilement.

`Abdullah said, "I learnt An-Naza'ir which the Prophet used to recite in pairs in each rak`a." Then `Abdullah got up and Alqama accompanied him to his house, and when Alqama came out, we asked him (about those Suras). He said, "They are twenty Suras that start from the beginning of Al- Mufassal, according to the arrangement done be Ibn Mas`ud, and end with the Suras starting with Ha Mim, e.g. Ha Mim (the Smoke). and "About what they question one another?" (78.1)

Whenever the Prophet intended to go to bed, he would recite: "Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya (With Your name, O Allah, I die and I live)." And when he woke up from his sleep, he would say: "Al-hamdu lil-lahil-ladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana; wa ilaihi an-nushur (All the Praises are for Allah Who has made us alive after He made us die (sleep) and unto Him is the Resurrection). "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from his father that Umar ibn al-Khattab used to pray as much as Allah willed in the night until at the end of the night he would wake his family for the prayer. He used to say to them, "The prayer, the prayer." Then he would recite the ayat, "Enjoin prayer on your family and be constant in it. We do not ask you for your provision. We provide for you. And the end result is for taqwa." (Sura 20 ayat 132)

We gave the Pledge of allegiance to the Prophet and he recited to me the verse (60.12). That they will not associate anything in worship with Allah (60.12). And he also prevented us from wailing and lamenting over the dead. A woman from us held her hand out and said, "Such-and-such a woman cried over a dead person belonging to my family and I want to compensate her for that crying" The Prophet did not say anything in reply and she left and returned. None of those women abided by her pledge except Um Sulaim, Um Al-`Ala', and the daughter of Abi Sabra, the wife of Al-Mu`adh or the daughter of Abi Sabra, and the wife of Mu`adh.

`Umar said, Ubai was the best of us in the recitation (of the Qur'an) yet we leave some of what he recites.' Ubai says, 'PI have taken it from the mouth of Allah's Apostle and will not leave for anything whatever." But Allah said "None of Our Revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten but We substitute something better or similar." 2.106

When the verse: "O ye who believe! eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities, but let there be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good will" was revealed, a man thought it a sin to eat in the house of another man after the revelation of this verse.

Then this (injunction) was revealed by the verse in Surat an-Nur: "No blame on you whether you eat in company or separately."

When a rich man (after revelation) invited a man from his people to eat food in his house, he would say: I consider it a sin to eat from it, and he said: a poor man is more entitled to it than I. The Arabic word tajannah means sin or fault. It was then declared lawful to eat something on which the name of Allah was mentioned, and it was made lawful to eat the flesh of an animal slaughtered by the people of the Book.

That they visited Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri and asked him about Al-Harauriyya, a special unorthodox religious sect, "Did you hear the Prophet saying anything about them?" Abu Sa`id said, "I do not know what Al-Harauriyya is, but I heard the Prophet saying, "There will appear in this nation---- he did not say: From this nation ---- a group of people so pious apparently that you will consider your prayers inferior to their prayers, but they will recite the Qur'an, the teachings of which will not go beyond their throats and will go out of their religion as an arrow darts through the game, whereupon the archer may look at his arrow, its Nasl at its Risaf and its Fuqa to see whether it is blood-stained or not (i.e. they will have not even a trace of Islam in them).

Ya'la ibn Mumallak said that he asked Umm Salamah about the recitation and prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

She said: What have you to do with his prayer? He would pray, then sleep as long as he had prayed, till morning. She then described his recitation and did so with an exposition word by word.

Abu 'Ali said: I heard Abu Dawud say: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal say: The narrator 'Isa b. Shadhan is a sane person.

A woman came to the Prophet (saws) while we were with him.

She said: Messenger of Allah, my husband, Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal, beats me when I pray, and makes me break my fast when I keep a fast, and he does not offer the dawn prayer until the sun rises.

He asked Safwan, who was present, about what she had said. He replied: Messenger of Allah, as for her statement "he beats me when I pray", she recites two surahs (during prayer) and I have prohibited her (to do so).

He (the Prophet) said: If one surah is recited (during prayer), that is sufficient for the people.

(Safwan continued:) As regards her saying "he makes me break my fast," she dotes on fasting; I am a young man, I cannot restrain myself.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said on that day: A woman should not fast except with the permission of her husband.

(Safwan said:) As for her statement that I do not pray until the sun rises, we are a people belonging to a class, and that (our profession of supplying water) is already known about us. We do not awake until the sun rises. He said: When you awake, offer your prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Yaqub that Abu Said, the mawla of Amir ibn Kuraz told him that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, called toUbayy ibn Kab while he was praying. When Ubayy had finished his prayer he joined the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Messenger of Allah put his hand upon his hand, and he was intending to leave by the door of the mosque, so the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I hope that you will not leave the mosque until you know a sura whose like Allah has notsentdown in the Tawrah nor in the Injil nor in the Qur'an." Ubayysaid, "I began to slow down my pace in the hope of that. Then I said, 'Messenger of Allah, the sura you promised me!' He said, 'What do you recite when you begin the prayer?' I recited the Fatiha (Sura 1 ) until I came to the end of it, and the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'It is this sura, and it is the "seven oft-repeated" and the Great Qur'an which I was given.' "

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to al-Abbas ibn AbdulMuttalib: Abbas, my uncle, shall I not give you, shall I not present to you, shall I not donate to you, shall I not produce for you ten things? If you act upon them, Allah will forgive you your sins, first and last, old and new, involuntary and voluntary, small and great, secret and open.

These are the ten things: you should pray four rak'ahs, reciting in each one Fatihat al-Kitab and a surah. When you finish the recitation of the first rak'ah you should say fifteen times while standing: "Glory be to Allah", "Praise be to Allah", "There is no god but Allah", "Allah is most great". Then you should bow and say it ten times while bowing. Then you should raise your head after bowing and say it ten times. Then you should kneel down in prostration and say it ten times while prostrating yourself. Then you should raise your head after prostration and say it ten times. Then you should prostrate yourself and say it ten times. Then you should raise your head after prostrating and say it ten times in every rak'ah. You should do that in four rak'ahs.

If you can observe it once daily, do so; if not, then once weekly; if not, then once a month; if not, then once a year; if not, then once in your lifetime.

That the Prophet sent his (i.e. Abu Burda's) grandfather, Abu Musa and Mu`adh to Yemen and said to both of them "Facilitate things for the people (Be kind and lenient) and do not make things difficult (for people), and give them good tidings, and do not repulse them and both of you should obey each other." Abu Musa said, "O Allah's Prophet! In our land there is an alcoholic drink (prepared) from barley called Al-Mizr, and another (prepared) from honey, called Al-Bit"' The Prophet said, "All intoxicants are prohibited." Then both of them proceeded and Mu`adh asked Abu Musa, "How do you recite the Qur'an?" Abu Musa replied, "I recite it while I am standing, sitting or riding my riding animals, at intervals and piecemeal." Mu`adh said, "But I sleep and then get up. I sleep and hope for Allah's Reward for my sleep as I seek His Reward for my night prayer." Then he (i.e. Mu`adh) pitched a tent and they started visiting each other. Once Mu`adh paid a visit to Abu Musa and saw a chained man. Mu`adh asked, "What is this?" Abu Musa said, "(He was) a Jew who embraced Islam and has now turned apostate." Mu`adh said, "I will surely chop off his neck!"