“Step aside and I will show you how.” The Messenger of Allah (saw) put his hand between the skin and the flesh, and thrust his arm in until it disappeared up to the armpit, and said: “O boy, this is how you skin it.” Then he went and led the people in prayer and did not perform Wudu’.

“I heard ‘Uthman bin Abul-‘As say: “The last thing that the Prophet (saw) enjoined on me when he appointed me governor of Ta’if was that he said: “O ‘Uthman! Be tolerable in prayer and estimate the people based upon the weakest among them, for among them are the elderly, the young, the sick, those who live far from the mosque, and those who have pressing needs.”

“The Messenger of Allah (SAW) offered the funeral prayer for a man among the Muslims and I heard him say: ‘O Allah, so-and-so the son of so-and-so is in Your case and under Your protection. Protect him from the trial of the grave and the torment of the Fire, for You are the One Who keeps the promise and You are the Truth. Forgive him and have mercy on him, for You are the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

“O slavewoman of the Compeller, where are you headed?” She said: “To the mosque.” He said: “And have you put on perfume for that?” She said: “Yes.” He said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say: ‘Any woman who puts on perfume then goes out to the mosque, no prayer will be accepted from her until she takes a bath.’”

God’s Messenger taught us the tashahhud in the prayer and in case of some need, saying that the tashahhud in the prayer is, “The adorations of the tongue, acts of worship and all good things belong to God. Peace, and God’s mercy and blessings be upon you, O Prophet. Peace be upon us and upon God’s upright servants. I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.” The tashahhud in case of some need is, “Praise be to God from whom we ask help and pardon. We seek refuge in God from the evils within ourselves. He whom God guides if has no one who can lead him astray, and he whom He leads astray has no one to guide him. I testify that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger." And one should recite three verses: “You who believe, fear God as He should be feared, and die only as Muslims;” (Al-Qur’an 3:102). “You who believe . . . fear God by whom you ask your mutual rights, and reverence the wombs. God has been watching over you;” (Al-Qur’an 4:1 which has ‘O Mankind.’). “You who believe, if you fear God and say what is true He will make your deeds sound and forgive you your sins. He who obeys God and His Messenger has attained a mighty success” (Al-Qur’an 33:70). Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it. In Tirmidhi’s Jami' Sufyan ath-Thauri gave a commentary on the three verses. Ibn Majah added “whom we praise” after “praise be to God”, and “from our evil actions” after “from the evils within ourselves.” After “mighty success” Darimi added that one should then express what he needs. In Sharh as-sunna it is transmitted on the authority of Ibn Mas’ud concerning the form of words for some need, whether marriage or something else.

"The Salat (prayer) of one of you will not be complete until he performs Wudu' (ablution) properly as Allah commanded him, then he says Allahu Akbar and Alhamdu lillah and praises Him."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar from Abdullah as-Sanabihi that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A trusting slave does wudu and as he rinses his mouth the wrong actions leave it. As he cleans his nose the wrong actions leave it. As he washes his face, the wrong actions leave it, even from underneath his eyelashes. As he washes his hands the wrong actions leave them, even from underneath his fingernails. As he wipes his head the wrong actions leave it, even from his ears. And as he washes his feet the wrong actions leave them, even from underneath the toenails of both his feet." He added, "Then his walking to the mosque and his prayer are an extra reward for him."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az- Zubayr from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari that he heard Umar ibn al- Khattab say, while he was teaching people the tashahhud from the mimbar, "Say, Greetings belong to Allah. Pure actions belong to Allah. Good words and prayers belong to Allah. Peace on you, Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and on the slaves of Allah who are salihun. I testify that there is no god except Allah. And I testify that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger."

'At-tahiyatu lillah, az-zakiyatu lillah, at-tayibatu wa's-salawatu lillah. As-salamu alayka ayyuha'nnabiyyu wa rahmatu'llahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibadi'llahi s-salihin. Ash-hadu an la ilaha illa 'llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim from his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say in the tashahhud, "Greetings, good words, prayers, pure actions belong to Allah. I testify that there is no god except Allah, alone without partner, and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. Peace be on you, Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be on us and on the slaves of Allah who are salihun. Peace be upon you."

"At-tahiyatu, at- tayibatu, as-salawatu, az-zakiyatu lillah. Ash-hadu an la ilaha illa'llah, wahdahu la sharika lah wa anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu. As-salamu alayka ayyuha-n-nabiyyu wa rahmatu-llahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibadi-llahi's-salihin. As-salamu alaykum."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Said ibn Abi Said al-Maqburi from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf that he asked A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, what the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was like during Ramadan. She said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not go above eleven rakas in Ramadan or at any other time. He prayed four - do not ask me about their beauty or length. Then he prayed another four - do not ask me about their beauty and length. Then he prayed three."

A'isha continued, "I said, 'Messenger of Allah, are you sleeping before you do the witr?' He said, A'isha, my eyes sleep but my heart does not sleep.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Salih ibn Kaysan from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud that Zayd ibn Khalid al- Juhani said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took the subh prayer with us at Hudaybiyya after it had rained in the night. When he had finished he went up to the people and said, 'Do you know what your Lord has said?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'Some of my slaves have begun the morning believing in Me, and others have begun it rejecting Me. As for those who say, 'We were rained on by the overflowing favour of Allah and His mercy,' they believe in Me and reject the stars. But as for those who say, 'We were rained on by such and such a star, they reject Me and believe in the stars.' "

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "What I have heard from the people of knowledge is that if a man succumbs to an illness which makes fasting very difficult for him and exhausts him and wears him out, he can break his fast. This is the same as with a sick man in the prayer, who finds standing to be too difficult and exhausting, (and Allah knows better than the slave that it is an excuse for him and that it really cannot be described). If the man is in such a condition he prays sitting, and the deen of Allah is ease.

Allah has permitted a traveller to break the fast when travelling, and he has more strength for fasting than a sick man. Allah, the Exalted, says in His book, 'Whoever among you is ill or on a journey (must fast) a number of other days,' and Allah has thus permitted a traveller to break his fast when on a journey, and he is more capable of fasting than a sick man.

"I heard Ali saying: 'Indeed I am a man who, when I heard a Hadith from Allah's Messenger (S) then Allah causes me to benefit from it as much as He wills for me to benefit from it. When a man among his Companions narrated to me I ask him to swear an oath to me about it, and when he swears an oath to me I trust him. And Abu Bakr narrated to me - and Abu Bakr told the truth - he said: "I heard Allah's Messenger (S) saying: 'There is no man who commits a sin, then makes Wudu, then performs Salat, then seeks forgiveness from Allah, except that Allah forgives him.' Then he recited this Ayah: Those who when they have committed Fahishah or wronged themselves with eveil, remember Allah. (3:135) until the end of the Ayah."

"Indeed the best of my friends to me is the one of meager conditions, whose share is in Salat, worshipping his Lord well and obeying him (even) in private. He is obscure among the people such that the fingers are not pointed towards him. His provisions are only what is sufficient and he is patient with that." Then he tapped with his fingers and said: "His death comes quickly, his mourners are few, and his inheritance is little."With this (the above), chain it is narrated that the Prophet (s.a.w) said: "My Lord presented to me, that He would make the valley of Makkah into gold for me, I said: 'No O Lord! But being filled for a day and hungry for a day"-or he said: "three days" or something like that- "So when I am hungry, I would beseech You and remember You, and when I am full I would be grateful to You and praise You."

"A woman from Juhainah confessed before the Prophet (saws) that she had committed adultery, and she said: 'I am pregnant.' So the Prophet (saws) called for her guardian and said: 'Be good to her and if she gives birth to her child then tell me.' So he did so, and then he (saws) gave the order that her clothes be bound tightly around her. Then he ordered her to be stoned and she was stoned. Then he performed (funeral) Salat for her. So 'Umar bin Al-Khattab said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah! You stoned her then you prayed for her?!' He said: 'She has repented a repentance that, if distributed among seventy of the people of Al-Madinah, it would have sufficed them. Have you ever seen something more virtuous than her sacrificing herself for the sake of Allah?'"

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Any skin tanned, then it has been made pure."

This Hadith is Hasan Sahih. This is acted upon according to most of the people of knowledge, they say that when the skin of a dead animal has been tanned then it has been made pure.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] Ash-Shafi'i said: "Any dead animals skin that is tanned, then it has been made pure, except for the dog and the pig." Some of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) disliked skins of predators even when tanned, and this is the view of 'Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak, Ahmad and Ishaq, and they were firm about not wearing them and performing Salat in them. Ishaq bin Ibrahim said: "The saying of the Prophet (saws):'Any skin that is tanned, then it has been made pure' only refers to the skins of animals whose meat is eaten." This is how it was explained by An-Nasr bin Shumail.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “Whoever says at the end of every Fajr prayer, while his feet are still folded, before speaking: ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, Alone without partner, to Him belongs all that exists, and to Him is the praise, He gives life and causes death, and He is powerful over all things, (Lā ilāha illallāh, waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-ḥamdu, yuḥyī wa yumītu, wa huwa `alā kulli shay’in qadīr)’ ten times, then ten good deeds shall be written for him, ten evil deeds shall be wiped away from him, ten degrees shall be raised up for him, and he shall be in security all that day from every disliked thing, and he shall be in protection from Shaitan, and no sin will meet him or destroy him that day, except for associating partners with Allah.”

"I heard 'Ali saying: 'Indeed I am a man who, when I hear a Hadith from the Messenger of Allah (SAW), then Allah causes me to benefit from it as much as He wills for me to benefit from it. When a man among his Companions narrates to me I ask him to swear an oath to me, about it, and when he swears an oath to me I trust him. And Abu Bakr narrated to me - and Abu Bakr told the truth - he said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (SAW) saying: 'There is no man who commits a sin, then stands for purification, then performs Salat, then seeks forgiveness from Allah, except that Allah forgives him.' Then he recites this Ayah: Those who, when they have committed Fahishah or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah... (3:135) until the end of the Ayah."

"When the Messenger of Allah (SAW) reached Sidrat Al-Muntaha" He said: 'There terminates everything that ascends from the earth, and everything that descends from above. So there Allah gave him three, which He did not give to any Prophet before him: He made fiver prayers obligatory upon him, He gave him the last Verses of Surat Al-Baqarah, and He pardoned the grave sins for those of his Ummah who do not associate anything with Allah.' Ibn Mas'ud said regarding the Ayah: "When that covered the Sidrah which did cover it! (53:16)" he said: "The sixth Sidrah in heavens." Sufyan said: "Golden butterflies" and Sufyan indicated with his hand in a fluttering motion. Others besides Malik bin Mighwal said: "There terminates the creatures' knowledge, there is no knowledge for them of what is above that."

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Allah the Exalted has said: 'I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved thing with which My slave comes nearer to Me is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (prayer or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him. When I love him I become his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks (something) from Me, I give him, and if he asks My Protection (refuge), I protect him".

[Al- Bukhari].

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Allah, the Exalted, has said: 'I will declare war against him who treats with hostility a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved thing with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (voluntary prayers or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) until I love him, (so much so that) I become his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me something, I will surely give him, and if he seeks My Protection (refuge), I will surely protect him".

[Al-Bukhari]

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) directed me thus: "Whenever you go to bed, perform Wudu' as you do for Salat then (before sleeping) recite: 'O Allah! I have submitted myself to You, I have turned myself to You, committed my affairs to You and sought Your refuge for protection out of desire for You and fear of You (expecting Your reward and fearing Your punishment). There is no refuge and no place of safety from You but with You. I believe in the Book You have revealed and in the Prophet (PBUH) You have sent."' Messenger of Allah (PBUH) added: "If anyone recites these words and dies during the night, he will die on the true Deen, and if he remains alive till the morning, he will obtain good. And make this supplication your last words (before sleeping)."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) led the funeral prayer of a Muslim man in our presence, and I heard him saying "Allahumma inna [name of the dead person] fi dhimmatika wa habli jiwarika, faqihi fitnatal- qabri; wa 'adhaban-Nari, wa Anta ahlul-wafa'i wal-hamdi; Allahumma faghfir lahu warhamhu, innaka Antal-Ghafur-ur-Rahim [If the dead person is a woman, one can change hu in some words here with ha] [O Allah, (so-and-so son of so-and-so) is in Your Protection and inside the surroundings of Your Refuge. Safeguard him from the trial of the grave and the punishment of the Hell. You keep Your Promise and You deserve to be praised. O Allah! Forgive him and be merciful to him. Indeed, You are the Forgiving, the Merciful]."

[Abu Dawud].

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) died and some people apostatised, ‘Umar bin al-Khattab said: O Abu Bakr, how can you fight the people, when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “I have been commanded to fight the people until they say La ilaha illallah (There is no god but Allah), and whoever says La ilaha illallah, his wealth and his life are protected from me, and his reckoning will be with Allah`? Abu Bakr said: I will most certainly fight those who separate prayer and zakah, for zakah is what is due on wealth. By Allah, if they withhold from me a small she-goat that they used to give to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I will certainly fight them for withholding it. ʻUmar said: By Allah, as soon as I saw that Allah had opened Abu Bakr`s heart to the idea of fighting I knew that he was right.

`This is the place of standing, and all of `Arafah is a place of standing.` Then he moved on at an unhurried pace, and the people started rushing right and left. He turned to them and said: `Calmly, O people; calmly, O people.” Then he came to al-Muzdalifah and put two prayers together, then he stood in al-Muzdalifah in a place called Quzah, with al-Fadl bin al-`Abbas riding behind him, and he said: “This is the place of standing and all of Muzdalifah is a place of standing.” Then he moved on at an unhurried pace and the people started rushing right and left. He turned to them and said: `Calmly, O people; calmly, O people.” he quoted the hadeeth at length.

Abu Malik al-Ash‘ari reported God’s messenger as saying, “Being purified is half of faith, saying ‘Praise be to God’ fills the scale, saying ‘Glory be to God’ and ‘Praise be to God' fill or fills* the space between the heavens and the earth, prayer is a light, sadaqa is a proof [of sincere faith], endurance is a shining glory, and the Qur’an is a proof on your behalf or against you. All men go out early and sell themselves, thereby setting themselves free or destroying themselves.” *An alternative reading is given in the text, the first feminine dual and the second feminine singular. Muslim transmitted it. A version has, “Saying ‘There is no god but God’ and ‘God is most great’ fills the space between heaven and earth.” I did not find this version in the two Sahihs, in al-Humaidi's book [Al-jam' bain as-sahihain], or in the Jami [ibn al-Athir’s Jami' al-usul] but Darimi mentioned it in place of “Glory be to God and Praise be to God.”

I questioned Ubayy b. Ka'b about a statement by his brother [not actual brother] Ibn Mas'ud to the effect that anyone who gets up for prayer every night in the year will hit upon lailat al-qadr, and he replied, “God have mercy on him! He meant that people should not content themselves [with that might alone]. He knew that it was in Ramadan among the last ten nights and that it was the twenty-seventh.” He then swore without any reservation that it was the twenty-seventh, and when I asked, “On what ground do you state that, Abul Mundhir? [Ubayy's kunya]” he replied, “By the indication (or sign)* of which God’s messenger informed us, viz. that the sun rises on that day without rays.” *An alternative, the transmitter not being sure which word was used. *An alternative, the transmitter not being sure which word was used. Muslim transmitted it.

‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud told of a man coming to the Prophet and saying, “Messenger of God, I sported with a woman on the outskirts of Medina, and I got what I wanted from her short of having intercourse with her. Now here I am, so decide what you wish about me.” ‘Umar said to him, “God has concealed this about you. Would that you had kept it to yourself!” Ibn Mas'ud said that the Prophet gave no reply, so the man got up and went away. Then the Prophet sent a man after him to summon him, and he recited this verse to him. “And observe the prayer at the two ends of the day and the neighbouring parts of the night, for good deeds remove evil deeds. That is a reminder to those who remember (Al-Qur’an, 11:114).” One of the people asked, “Prophet of God, does this refer to him in particular?” He replied, “No, it refers to all men.” Muslim transmitted it.

When the mu’adhdhin says, “God is most great, God is most great,” and one of you makes the response, “God is most great, God is most great”; then says, “I testify that there is no god but God,” and he makes the response, “I testify that there is no god but God”; then says, “I testify that Muhammad is God’s Messenger,” and he makes the response, “I testify that Muhammad is God’s Messenger”; then says, “Come to prayer,” and he makes the response, “There is no might and no power except in God”; then says, “Come to salvation,” and he makes the response, “There is no might and no power except in God”; then says, “God is most great, God is most great,” and he makes the response, “God is most great, God is most great”; then says, “There is no god but God,” and he makes the response, “There is no god but God”; if he says this from his heart, he will enter paradise. Muslim transmitted it.

Jubair b. Mut'im said that he saw God’s Messenger observing a prayer in which he said, “God is altogether great; God is altogether great; God is altogether great. Praise be to God in abundance; praise be to God in abundance; praise be to God in abundance. Glory be to God in the morning and afternoon (saying it three times). I seek refuge in God from the accursed devil, from his puffing up (nafkh), his magic (nafth) 1, and his evil suggestion (hamz) 2.” 1. Literally ‘sputtering’, but used of working magic by sputtering on knots. Cf. Qur’an, 113:4. 2. For this meaning cf. Qur’an, 23:97. Abu Dawud transmitted it, as did Ibn Majah, but he did not mention, “Praise be to God in abundance,” and he mentioned at the end of it “from the accursed devil.” ‘Umar said that his nafkh is pride, his, nafth is poetry, and his hamz is madness.

When we prayed with the Prophet we said,* “Peace be to God before it is supplicated for His servants; peace be to Gabriel; peace be to Michael; peace be to so and so.” When the Prophet finished he turned his face to us and said: Do not say, “Peace be to God”, for God Himself is Peace. When one of you sits during the prayer he should say, “The adorations of the tongue, acts of worship and all good things are due to God. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and God’s mercy and blessings. Peace be upon us and upon God’s upright servants (for when he says that it reaches every upright servant in heaven and earth). I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.” Then he may choose any supplication which pleases him and offer it. * I.e. at the tashahhud. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Then when he finished he faced the people and said, “O people, I have done this only that you should be guided by me and know how I conduct prayer.”

‘Uthman b. Abul ‘As said that the last command God’s messenger gave him was, “When you act as imam for people, make the prayer short." Muslim transmitted it. In a version by him it says that God's messenger said to him, “Act as imam for your people” to which he said he replied, “Messenger of God, I find a defect in myself.” Telling him to come near and making him sit down in front of him, he placed his hand on his breast between his nipples; then telling him to turn round, he placed it on his back between his shoulders. He then said, “Act as imam for your people. Whoever acts as imam for people must be brief, for among them are the aged, among them are the sick, among them are the weak, and among them are people who have busi­ness to do. But when any of you prays alone he may pray as he likes.”

Zaid b. Khalid al-Juhani decided to watch one night what prayers God’s Messenger said. He prayed two short rak'as, then two long, long, long rak'as, then he prayed two rak'as which were less than the two preceding, then he prayed two rak'as which were less then the two preceding, then he prayed two rak'as which were less than the two preceding, then he prayed two rak'as which were less than the two preceding, then he prayed a single one, making a total of thirteen. Muslim transmitted it. The words “then he prayed two rak'as which were less than the two preceding”, mentioned four times, occur thus in Muslim’s Sahih and among those peculiar or him in Humaidi’s book, also in Malik’s Muwatta’, Abu Dawud’s Sunan, and Jami’ al-Usul.

Abu Huraira said that when God’s Messenger wished to invoke a curse or a blessing on someone he stood in supplication after bowing, and when he said, “God listens to him who praises Him,” he often said, “Praise be to Thee, our Lord! O God, rescue al-Walid b. al-Walid, Salama b. Hisham and ‘Ayyash b. Abu Rabi'a.1 O God, trample severely on Mudar and cause them a famine like that of Joseph,”2 saying that in a loud voice. And he would sometimes say in the course of his prayer, “O God, curse so and so and so and so of the tribes of the Arabs,” till God revealed, “You have nothing to do with the matter. . .”3 1. These were men who were persecuted for their faith and held prisoners. 2. The famine in the time of Joseph lasted seven years. 3. Al-Qur’an; 3:128. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

“I asked 'A'sha (may Allah be well pleased with her) about the nighttime ritual prayer of Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), so she said: ‘He used to sleep at the beginning of the night. Then he would get up, and when it was the time before daybreak, he performed a witr [a ritual prayer with an odd number of cycles]. Then he came to his mattress, and if he had a need, he had sexual intercourse with his wife. When he heard the call to prayer, he sprang up, and if he was in a state of major ritual impurity, he poured water over himself, and if not, he performed the minor ritual ablution and went out to the ritual prayer.”

He offered the morning prayer with Allah's Messenger (SAW) and when Allah's Messenger (SAW) finished his prayer, he saw two men who had not prayed with him. He ordered them to be brought and they were brought trembling with fear. He asked them what had prevented you from praying with us?" They said, "We had already prayed at our homes." He said, "Don't do so! If you pray at your homes and then you come while the Imam has not yet performed the prayer, you must pray with him, and it will be a voluntary prayer for you." [Reported by Ahmad - with his wording - and ath-Thalathah. at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban graded it Sahih (authentic)].

The Prophet (saws) said, "I have been given five things which were not given to anyone else before me. Allah made me victorious by awe (of frightening my enemies) for a distance of one month's journey. The earth has been made for me (and my followers) a place for praying and something with which to perform Tayammum (to purify oneself for prayer). Therefore, anyone (of my followers) can pray (anywhere) and at any time that the Salat (prayer) is due."

I heard the messenger of Allah (PBUH) say: Your Lord delights at a shepherd who, on the peak of a mountain crag, gives the call to prayer and prays. Then Allah (glorified and exalted be He) say: Look at this servant of Mine, he gives the call to prayer and performs the prayers; he is in awe of Me. I have forgiven My servant [his sins] and have admitted him to Paradise. It was related by an-Nasa'i with a good chain of authorities.

The Prophet (SAW) delayed (the 'Isha' prayer) one night till a great part of the night passed, then he went out and offered the prayer, and said, "This is the proper time for it; were it not that I would impose a burden on my followers." [Reported by Muslim].

"It is from the Sunnah that when the Mu'adhadhin says [in the first Adhan of] Fajr (prayer time): 'Haiya 'alal-Falah (Come to the success)', he says (also) 'as-Salatu khairun minan-nawm (Prayer is better than sleep).'"

The Prophet (SAW) never used to offer any prayer before the 'Eid prayer. But when he went back home, he used to pray two Rak'at. [Reported by Ibn Majah through a Hasan (good) chain of narrators].

"The Prophet went out to relieve himself and when he came back, I met him with a water skin and poured water for him. He washed his hands and his face, then he went to wash his forearms but his garment was too tight, so he brought his arms out from underneath his garment and washed them, then he wiped over his leather socks, then he led us in prayer."

"We performed the Maghrib (prayer) with the Messenger of Allah, then those who went back went back, and those who stayed, stayed. Then the Messenger of Allah came back in a hurry, out of breath, with his garment pulled up to his knees, and said: 'Be of good cheer, for your Lord has opened one of the gates of heaven and is boasting of you before the angels, saying: "Look at My slaves; they have fulfilled one obligatory duty and are awaiting another."

"While we were with the Prophet(SAW), a man from the Banu Salamah came to him and said: " O messenger of Allah, is there anyway of honoring my parents that I can still do for them after they die?' He said: "Yes offering the funeral prayer for them, praying for forgiveness for them, fulfilling their promises after their death, honoring their freinds and upholding the ties of kinship which you would not have were it nor for them.'"

“My paternal uncles among the Ansar who were among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (saw) told me: ‘The new crescent of Shawwal was covered with clouds, so we fasted the next day. Then some riders came at the end of the day and testified to the Prophet (saw) that they had seen the new crescent the night before. The Messenger of Allah (saw) commanded them to break their fast and to go out to offer the ‘Eid prayer the following morning.’”

“The Prophet (saw) set out in the early morning and I did likewise. I prayed, then I sat. The Prophet (saw) turned to me and said: ‘Do you have a stomach problem?’* I said: ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah.’ He said: ‘Get up and pray, for in prayer there is healing.’” Another chain with similar wording. Abu `Abdullah said: A man narrated it to his people, then they were stirred up against him.

“Uthman bin ‘Affan addressed the people and said: ‘O people! I heard a Hadith from the Messenger of Allah (saw) and nothing kept me from narrating it to you except for the fact that I did not want to lose you and your companionship. So it is up to you. I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) saying: “Whoever spends a night guarding the frontier in the cause of Allah, it will be like a thousand nights spent in fasting and prayer.”

“Among those in charge of you, after I am gone, will be men who extinguish the Sunnah and follow innovation. They will delay the prayer from its proper time.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah, if I live to see them, what should I do?” He said: “You ask me, O Ibn ‘Abd, what you should do? There is no obedience to one who disobeys Allah.”

“Thirty of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (saw) who had been at Badr came together and said: ‘Come, let us estimate the length of the recitation of the Messenger of Allah (saw) for the prayer in which Qur’an is not recited out aloud.’ No two men among them disagreed, and they estimated the length of his recitation in the first Rak’ah of the Zuhr to be thirty Verses and in the second Rak’ah to be half of that. They estimated his recitation in ‘Asr to be half of the last two Rak’ah of Zuhr.”