Abu Sa`id led us in the prayer and said the Takbir aloud on arising from the prostration, and on prostrating, on rising again, and on getting up from the second rak`a. Abu Sa`id said, "I saw the Prophet doing the same."

The Prophet said, "On every Friday the angels take their stand at every gate of the mosque to write the names of the people chronologically (i.e. according to the time of their arrival for the Friday prayer) and when the Imam sits (on the pulpit) they fold up their scrolls and get ready to listen to the sermon."

Allah's Apostle said, "When the Imam, during the prayer, says, "Allah hears him who praises Him', say: 'O Allah! Our Lord! All the praises are for You/, for if the saying of anyone of you coincides with the saying of the angels, his past sins will be forgiven."

Anas was asked, "Did the Prophet recite Qunut in the Fajr prayer?" Anas replied in the affirmative. He was further asked, "Did he recite Qunut before bowing?" Anas replied, "He recited Qunut after bowing for some time (for one month)."

I offered the `Isha' prayer behind Abu Huraira and he recited Idhas-Sama' Un-Shaqqat, and prostrated. I said, "What is this?" Abu Huraira said, "I prostrated behind Abul-Qasim and I will do the same till I meet him."

A necklace of mine was lost at Al-Baida' and we were on our way to Medina. The Prophet made his camel kneel down and dismounted and laid his head on my lap and slept. Abu Bakr came to me and hit me violently on the chest and said, "You have detained the people because of a necklace." I kept as motionless as a dead person because of the position of Allah's Apostle ; (on my lap) although Abu Bakr had hurt me (with the slap). Then the Prophet woke up and it was the time for the morning (prayer). Water was sought, but in vain; so the following Verse was revealed:-- "O you who believe! When you intend to offer prayer.." (5.6) Usaid bin Hudair said, "Allah has blessed the people for your sake, O the family of Abu Bakr. You are but a blessing for them."

(the freed slave of `Uthman bin `Affan) I saw `Uthman bin `Affan asking (for a tumbler of water) to perform ablution (and when it was brought) he poured water from it over his hands and washed them thrice and then put his right hand in the water container and rinsed his mouth and washed his nose by putting water in it and then blowing it out. Then he washed his face thrice and (then) forearms up to the elbows thrice, then passed his wet hands over his head and then washed each foot thrice. After that `Uthman said, "I saw the Prophet performing ablution like this of mine, and he said, 'If anyone performs ablution like that of mine and offers a two-rak`at prayer during which he does not think of anything else (not related to the present prayer) then his past sins will be forgiven. '

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) fell down from a horse and his right side was either injured or scratched, so we went to inquire about his health. The time for the prayer became due and he offered the prayer while sitting and we prayed while standing. He said, "The Imam is to be followed; so if he says Takbir, you should also say Takbir, and if he bows you should also bow; and when he lifts his head you should also do the same and if he says: Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah (Allah hears whoever sends his praises to Him) you should say: Rabbana walakal-Hamd (O our Lord! All the praises are for You.") (See Hadith No. 656 Vol. 1).

Ibn `Umar never offered the Duha prayer except on two occasions: (1) Whenever he reached Mecca; and he always used to reach Mecca in the forenoon. He would perform Tawaf round the Ka`ba and then offer two rak`at at the rear of Maqam Ibrahim. (2) Whenever he visited Quba, for he used to visit it every Saturday. When he entered the Mosque, he disliked to leave it without offering a prayer. Ibn `Umar narrated that Allah's Apostle used to visit the Mosque of Quba (sometime) walking and (sometime) riding. And he (i.e. Ibn `Umar) used to say, "I do only what my companions used to do and I don't forbid anybody to pray at any time during the day or night except that one should not intend to pray at sunrise or sunset."

That they were with the Prophet on a journey. They travelled the whole night, and when dawn approached, they took a rest and sleep overwhelmed them till the sun rose high in the sky. The first to get up was Abu Bakr. Allah's Apostles used not to be awakened from his sleep, but he would wake up by himself. `Umar woke up and then Abu Bakr sat by the side of the Prophet's head and started saying: Allahu-Akbar raising his voice till the Prophet woke up, (and after traveling for a while) he dismounted and led us in the morning prayer. A man amongst the people failed to join us in the prayer. When the Prophet had finished the prayer, he asked (the man), "O so-and-so! What prevented you from offering the prayer with us?" He replied, "I am Junub," Alllah's Apostle ordered him to perform Tayammam with clean earth. The man then offered the prayer. Allah's Apostle ordered me and a few others to go ahead of him. We had become very thirsty. While we were on our way (looking for water), we came across a lady (riding an animal), hanging her legs between two water-skins. We asked her, "Where can we get water?" She replied, "Oh ! There is no water." We asked, "how far is your house from the water?" She replied, "A distance of a day and a night travel." We said, "Come on to Allah's Apostle, "She asked, "What is Allah's Apostle ?" So we brought her to Allah's Apostle against her will, and she told him what she had told us before and added that she was the mother of orphans. So the Prophet ordered that her two water-skins be brought and he rubbed the mouths of the water-skins. As we were thirsty, we drank till we quenched our thirst and we were forty men. We also filled all our waterskins and other utensils with water, but we did not water the camels. The waterskin was so full that it was almost about to burst. The Prophet then said, "Bring what (foodstuff) you have." So some dates and pieces of bread were collected for the lady, and when she went to her people, she said, "I have met either the greatest magician or a prophet as the people claim." So Allah guided the people of that village through that lady. She embraced Islam and they all embraced Islam.

(My mother) Umu-l-Fadl heard me reciting "Wal Mursalati `Urfan" (77) and said, "O my son! By Allah, your recitation made me remember that it was the last Sura I heard from Allah's Apostle. He recited it in the Maghrib prayer. "

Whenever Allah's Apostle finished his prayers with Taslim, the women would get up and he would stay on for a while in his place before getting up. Ibn Shihab said, "I think (and Allah knows better), that the purpose of his stay was that the women might leave before the men who had finished their prayer. "

The Prophet was hiding himself in Mecca and used to recite the (Qur'an) in a loud voice. When the pagans heard him they would abuse the Qur'an and the one who brought it, so Allah said to His Prophet: 'Neither say your prayer aloud, nor say it in a low tone.' (17.110)

(in continuation of above). Then I witnessed (the 'Its) with `Ali bin Abi Talib, and he too offered the `Id prayer before the sermon and then delivered the sermon before the people and said, "Allah's Apostle has forbidden you to eat the meat of your sacrifices for more than three days."

(the wife of the Prophet) Um Habiba got bleeding in between the periods for seven years. She asked Allah's Apostle about it. He ordered her to take a bath (after the termination of actual periods) and added that it was (from) a blood vessel. So she used to take a bath for every prayer.

The Prophet said, "The people who get tremendous reward for the prayer are those who are farthest away (from the mosque) and then those who are next farthest and so on. Similarly one who waits to pray with the Imam has greater reward than one who prays and goes to bed. "

One night I stood to the left of the Prophet in the prayer but he caught hold of me by the hand or by the shoulder (arm) till he made me stand on his right and beckoned with his hand (for me) to go from behind (him). (Al-Kashmaihani [??] , Fath-ul-Bari).

Once I came riding a she-ass and I, then, had just attained the age of puberty. Allah's Apostle was leading the people in prayer at Mina facing no wall. I passed in front of the row and let loose the sheass for grazing and joined the row and no one objected to my deed.

My father who was amongst those who had given the Pledge of allegiance to the Prophet beneath the Tree, said to me, "We used to offer the Jumua prayer with the Prophet and then depart at a time when the walls had no shade for us to take shelter in."

While we were offering the prayer with the Prophet a caravan carrying food came from Sham. The people looked towards the caravan (and went to it) and only twelve persons remained with the Prophet. So, the Divine Inspiration came; "But when they see some bargain or some amusement, they disperse headlong to it." (62.11)

I heard Anas saying, "We traveled with the Prophet from Medina to Mecca and offered two rak`at (for every prayer) till we returned to Medina." I said, "Did you stay for a while in Mecca?" He replied, "We stayed in Mecca for ten days."

I heard Ibn `Umar saying, "The Prophet arrived at Mecca and performed Tawaf of the Ka`ba and then offered a two-rak`at prayer and then performed Tawaf between Safa and Marwa." Ibn `Umar then recited (the verse): "Verily! In Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) you have a good example. "

I asked `Amra about taking a bath on Fridays. She replied, " Aisha said, 'The people used to work (for their livelihood) and whenever they went for the Jumua prayer, they used to go to the mosque in the same shape as they had been in work. So they were asked to take a bath on Friday.' "

In the lifetime of the Prophet, Abu Bakr and `Umar, the Adhan for the Jumua prayer used to be pronounced when the Imam sat on the pulpit. But during the Caliphate of `Uthman when the Muslims increased in number, a third Adhan at Az-Zaura' was added. Abu `Abdullah said, "Az-Zaura' is a place in the market of Medina."

(Once) Abu Bakr offered the `Asr prayer and then went out walking and saw Al-Hasan playing with the boys. He lifted him on to his shoulders and said, " Let my parents be sacrificed for your sake! (You) resemble the Prophet and not `Ali," while `Ali was smiling.

The Prophet said, "As long as any-one of you is waiting for the prayer, he is considered to be praying actually, and the angels say, 'O Allah! Be merciful to him and forgive him', (and go on saying so) unless he leaves his place of praying or passes wind (i.e. breaks his ablution).

Anas reported that when the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) had to set out on a journey hurriedly, he delayed the noon prayer to the earlier time for the afternoon prayer, and then he would combine them, and he would delay the sunset prayer to the time when the twilight would disappear and then combine it with the 'Isha' prayer.

Once the Prophet fell ill and did not offer the night prayer (Tahajjud prayer) for a night or two. A woman (the wife of Abu Lahab) came to him and said, "O Muhammad ! I do not see but that your Satan has left you." Then Allah revealed (Surat-Ad-Duha): 'By the fore-noon, and by the night when it darkens (or is still); Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor hated you.' (93)

Narrated Az-Zuhri that he visited Anas bin Malik at Damascus and found him weeping and asked him why he was weeping. He replied, "I do not know anything which I used to know during the life-time of Allah's Apostle except this prayer which is being lost (not offered as it should be)."

We went out with Allah's Apostle to Khaibar, and when we reached As-Sahba', the Prophet asked for food, and he was offered nothing but Sawiq. We ate, and then Allah's Apostle stood up for the prayer. He rinsed his mouth with water, and we too, rinsed our mouths.

A necklace belonging to Asma' was lost, and the Prophet sent men in its search. The time for the prayer became due and they were without ablution and they could not find water; therefore they prayed without ablution, They mentioned that to the Prophet . Then Allah revealed the Verse of Tayammum. (`Aisha added: that she had borrowed (the necklace) from Asma').

Once in a cold night, Ibn `Umar pronounced the Adhan for the prayer at Dajnan (the name of a mountain) and then said, "Pray at your homes", and informed us that Allah's Apostle used to tell the Mu'adh-dhin to pronounce Adhan and say, "Pray at your homes" at the end of the Adhan on a rainy or a very cold night during the journey."

I heard the Prophet (p.b.u.h) delivering a Khutba saying, "The first thing to be done on this day (first day of `Id ul Adha) is to pray; and after returning from the prayer we slaughter our sacrifices (in the name of Allah) and whoever does so, he acted according to our Sunna (traditions)."

Allah's Apostle told me, "The most beloved prayer to Allah is that of David and the most beloved fasts to Allah are those of David. He used to sleep for half of the night and then pray for one third of the night and again sleep for its sixth part and used to fast on alternate days."

Allah's Apostle enjoined the payment of one Sa' of dates or one Sa' of barley as Zakat-ul-Fitr on every Muslim slave or free, male or female, young or old, and he ordered that it be paid before the people went out to offer the `Id prayer. (One Sa' = 3 Kilograms approx.)

While the Prophet was distributing (war booty etc.) one day, Dhul Khawaisira, a man from the tribe of Bani Tamim, said, "O Allah's Apostle! Act justly." The Prophets said, "Woe to you! Who else would act justly if I did not act justly?" `Umar said (to the Prophet ), "Allow me to chop his neck off." The Prophet said, "No, for he has companions (who are apparently so pious that) if anyone of (you compares his prayer with) their prayer, he will consider his prayer inferior to theirs, and similarly his fasting inferior to theirs, but they will desert Islam (go out of religion) as an arrow goes through the victim's body (games etc.) in which case if its Nasl is examined nothing will be seen thereon, and if its Nady is examined, nothing will be seen thereon, and if its Qudhadh is examined, nothing will be seen thereon, for the arrow has gone out too fast even for the excretions and blood to smear over it. Such people will come out at the time of difference among the (Muslim) people and the sign by which they will be recognized, will be a man whose one of the two hands will look like the breast of a woman or a lump of flesh moving loosely." Abu Sa`id added, "I testify that I heard that from the Prophet and also testify that I was with `Ali when `Ali fought against those people. The man described by the Prophet was searched for among the killed, and was found, and he was exactly as the Prophet had described him." (See Hadith No. 807, Vol. 4)