Allah's Apostle proceeded from `Arafat till when he reached the mountain pass, he dismounted, urinated and then performed ablution but not a perfect one. I said to him, ("Is it the time for) the prayer, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, "The (place of) prayer is ahead of you." He rode till when he reached Al-Muzdalifa, he dismounted and performed ablution and a perfect one, The (call for) Iqama was pronounced and he led the Maghrib prayer. Then everybody made his camel kneel down at its place. Then the Iqama was pronounced for the `Isha' prayer which the Prophet led and no prayer was offered in between the two . prayers (`Isha' and Maghrib).

"The Prophet became sick and when his disease became aggravated, he said, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the prayer." `Aisha said, "He is a softhearted man and would not be able to lead the prayer in your place." The Prophet said again, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer." She repeated the same reply but he said, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer. You are the companions of Joseph." So the messenger went to Abu Bakr (with that order) and he led the people in prayer in the lifetime of the Prophet.

We went to receive Anas bin Malik when he returned from Sham and met him at a place called 'Ainat- Tamr. I saw him praying riding the donkey, with his face to this direction, i.e. to the left of the Qibla. I said to him, "I have seen you offering the prayer in a direction other than that of the Qibla." He replied, "If I had not seen Allah's Apostle doing it, I would not have done it."

One night I became the guest of the Prophet (saws). He ordered that a piece of mutton be roasted, and it was roasted. He then took a knife and began to cut the meat with it for me. In the meantime Bilal came and called him for prayer. He threw the knife and said: What happened! may his hands be smeared with earth! He then stood for offering prayer. Al-Anbari added: My moustaches became lengthy. He trimmed them by placing a took-stick; or he said: I shall trim your moustaches by placing the tooth-stick there.

Al-Anbari said: My moustaches became lengthy. He trimmed them by placing a tooth-stick ; or he said: I shall trim your moustaches by placing the tooth-stick there.

Jabir saw the Messenger of Allah (saws) observing prayer. (The narrator Amr said: I do not know which prayer he was offering.)

He (the Prophet) said: Allah is altogether great; Allah is altogether great; Allah is altogether great; and praise be to Allah in abundance; and praise be to Allah is abundance; and praise be to Allah in abundance. Glory be to Allah in the morning and after (saying it three times). I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil, from his puffing up (nafkh), his spitting (nafth) and his evil suggestion (hamz).

He (Amr) said: His nafth it poetry, his nafkh is pride, and his hamz is madness.

The Prophet heard a man (reciting Qur'an) in the Mosque, and he said, "May Allah bestow His Mercy upon him. No doubt, he made me remember such-and such Verses of such-and-such Sura which I dropped (from my memory). Narrated Aisha: The Prophet performed the Tahajjud prayer in my house, and then he heard the voice of `Abbad who was praying in the Mosque, and said, "O `Aisha! Is this `Abbad's voice?" I said, "Yes." He said, "O Allah! Be merciful to `Abbad!"

I (Yazid b. Yazid) said: I asked Yazid b. al-Asamm: Abu ‘Awf did he mean Friday (prayer) or any other? He replied: may my ears become deaf if I have not heard Abu Hurairah narrating it from the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him); He did not mention Friday (prayer) or any other.

Abu Dawud said: 'Alqamah b. Waqqas narrated this tradition on the authority of 'Aishah from the Prophet (saws) to the same effect.

I said to the Messenger of Allah: I have a place in the desert where I live and in which I pray, with the praise of Allah; but give me command about a night when I come to this mosque.

He replied: Come on the twenty third night.

I (a sub-narrator, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim) said to his (Abdullah ibn Unays's) son: How would your father act?

He replied: He used to enter the mosque when he had offered the afternoon prayer, and did not leave it for any purpose till he prayed the morning prayer. Then when he had prayed the morning prayer, he found his riding beast at the door of the mosque, mounted it and got back to his desert.

During the ailment of the Prophet some people came to visits him. He led them in prayer while sitting. but they prayed standing, so he waved to them to sit down. When he had finished the prayer, he said, "An Imam is to be followed, so when he bows, you should bow. and when he raises his head, you should raise yours, and if he prays sitting. you should pray sitting." Abu `Abdullah said Al-Humaidi said, (The order of ) "This narration has been abrogated by the last action of the Prophet as he led the prayer sitting, while the people prayed standing behind him.'

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr that a man from the Ansar was praying in a garden of his in Quff, one of the valleys of Madina, during the date season and the palms' branches were weighed down with fruit on all sides. He looked at them and what he saw of their fruits amazed him. Then he went back to his prayer and he did not know how much he had prayed. He said, "A trial has befallen me in this property of mine." So he went toUthman ibn Affan, who was the khalifa at the time, and mentioned it to him and said, "It is sadaqa, so give it away in the paths of good." Uthman ibn Affan sold it for fifty thousand and so that property became known as the Fifty.

Allah's Apostle said, "(A believer) who accompanies the funeral procession of a Muslim out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's reward and remains with it till the funeral prayer is offered and the burial ceremonies are over, he will return with a reward of two Qirats. Each Qirat is like the size of the (Mount) Uhud. He who offers the funeral prayer only and returns before the burial, will return with the reward of one Qirat only."

I asked Jabir bin `Abdullah about praying in a single garment. He said, "I traveled with the Prophet during some of his journeys, and I came to him at night for some purpose and I found him praying. At that time, I was wearing a single garment with which I covered my shoulders and prayed by his side. When he finished the prayer, he asked, 'O Jabir! What has brought you here?' I told him what I wanted. When I finished, he asked, 'O Jabir! What is this garment which I have seen and with which you covered your shoulders?' I replied, 'It is a (tight) garment.' He said, 'If the garment is large enough, wrap it round the body (covering the shoulders) and if it is tight (too short) then use it as an Izar (tie it around your waist only.)' "

I heard Anas bin Malik al-Ansari saying, "An Ansari man, who was very fat, said to the Prophet, 'I am unable to present myself for the prayer with you.' He prepared a meal for the Prophet and invited him to his house. He washed one side of a mat with water and the Prophet offered two Rakat on it." So and so, the son of so and so, the son of Al-Jarud asked Anas, "Did the Prophet use to offer the Duha prayer?" Anas replied, "I never saw him praying (the Duha prayer) except on that day."

I came riding on my she-ass and had (just) then attained the age of puberty. Allah's Apostle was praying at Mina. I passed in front of a part of the first row and then dismounted from it, and the animal started grazing. I aligned with the people behind Allah's Apostle (The sub-narrator added that happened in Mina during the Prophet's Hajjat-al-Wada`.)

The Prophet (saws) said: It is not permissible for a man who believes in Allah and in the Last Day that he should say the prayer while he is feeling the call of nature until he becomes light (by relieving himself).

Then the narrator Thawr b. Yazid transmitted a similar tradition with the following wordings: "It is not permissible for a man who believes in Allah and in the Last Day that he should lead the people in prayer but with their permission; and that he should not supplicate to Allah exclusively for himself leaving all others. If he did so, he violated trust."

Abu Dawud said: This is a tradition reported by the narrators of Syria; no other person has joined them in relating this tradition.

Sa'id ibn AbuSa'id al-Maqburi reported on the authority of his father that he saw AbuRafi' the freed slave of the Prophet (saws), passing by Hasan ibn Ali (Allah be pleased with them) when he was standing offering his prayer. He had tied the back knot of his hair. AbuRafi' untied it. Hasan turned to him with anger, AbuRafi' said to him: Concentrate on your prayer and do not be angry: I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: This is the seat of the devil, referring to the back knot of the hair.

Nafi' reported that Abdullah (b. 'Umar) informed him that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) turned his face to the two hillocks which intervened between him and the long mountain by the side of the Ka'ba, and the mosque which had been built there was thus on the left of the hillock. Allah's Messenger's (may peace be upon him) place of prayer was lower than the black hillock, at a distance of ten cubits or near it. He (may peace be upon him) would then observe prayer facing these two hillocks of the long mountain that is intervening between you and the Ka'ba.

I asked `Abdullah bin `Amr, "What was the worst thing the pagans did to Allah's Apostle?" He said, "I saw `Uqba bin Abi Mu'ait coming to the Prophet while he was praying.' `Uqba put his sheet round the Prophet's neck and squeezed it very severely. Abu Bakr came and pulled `Uqba away from the Prophet and said, "Do you intend to kill a man just because he says: 'My Lord is Allah, and he has brought forth to you the Evident Signs from your Lord?"

When I set out for Hajj, I passed by some people offering a prayer, I asked, "What is this mosque?" They said, "This is the Tree where Allah's Apostle took the Ar-Ridwan Pledge of allegiance. Then I went to Sa`id bin Musaiyab and informed him about it. Sa`id said, "My father said that he was amongst those who had given the Pledge of allegiance to Allah's Apostle beneath the Tree. He (i.e. my father) said, "When we set out the following year, we forgot the Tree and were unable to recognize it. "Then Sa`id said (perhaps ironically) "The companions of the Prophet could not recognize it; nevertheless, you do recognize it; therefore you have a better knowledge."

Abu Dawud said: Musaddad did not mention the words fatihat al-kitab and surah.

One night I slept at the house of (my aunt) Maimuna and the Prophet was there on that night. He performed ablution and stood up for the prayer. I joined him and stood on his left side but he drew me to his right and prayed thirteen rak`at and then slept till I heard his breath sounds. And whenever he slept, he used to breathe with audible sounds. The Mu'adh-dhin came to the Prophet and he went out and prayed the morning prayer) without repeating the ablution.

The Prophet used to offer the prayer earlier if it was very cold; and if it was very hot he used to delay the prayer, i.e. the Jumua prayer.

(the mother of the faithful believers) Allah's Apostle (in his last days) used to pray sitting. He would recite while sitting, and when thirty or forty verses remained from the recitation he would get up and recite them while standing and then he would bow and prostrate. He used to do the same in the second rak`a. After finishing the Prayer he used to look at me and if I was awake he would talk to me and if I was asleep, he would lie down.

I said that I should look at the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws) how he prays. The Messenger of Allah (saws) stood up and faced the qiblah (i.e. the direction of Ka'bah) and uttered the takbir (Allah is most great); then he raised his hands till he brought them in front of his ears; then he caught hold of his left hand with his right hand (i.e. folded his hands).

When he was about to bow, he raised them (his hands) in a like manner. Then he sat, stretched out his left foot (to sit on it), placed his left hand on his left thigh, and kept away the tip of his right elbow from his right thigh, joined two fingers, formed a ring, to do so. And the narrator Bishr made a ring with the thumb and the middle finger.

The Prophet (saws) was engaged in the Battle of Tabuk. If he moved off before the sun had declined, he would delay the noon prayer till he would combine it with the afternoon prayer and would offer them together. If he moved off after the sun had declined, he would combine the noon and afternoon prayers, and then he proceeded; if he moved off before the evening prayer, he would delay the evening prayer; he would offer it along with the night prayer, he would delay the evening prayer; he would offer it along with the night prayer. If he moved off after the evening prayer, he would offer the night prayer earlier and offer it along with the evening prayer.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has not been narrated by anyone except by Qutaibah.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) would not say funeral prayer over a person who died while the debt was due from him. A dead Muslim was brought to him and he asked: Is there any debt due from him? They (the people) said: Yes, two dirhams. He said: Pray yourselves over your companion.

Then AbuQatadah al-Ansari said: I shall pay them, Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) then prayed over him.

When Allah granted conquests to the Messenger of Allah (saws), he said: I am nearer to every believer than himself, so if anyone (dies and) leaves a debt, I shall be responsible for paying it; and if anyone leaves property, it goes to his heirs.

A man divorced his wife and she married another man who proved to be impotent and divorced her. She could not get her satisfaction from him, and after a while he divorced her. Then she came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! My first husband divorced me and then I married another man who entered upon me to consummate his marriage but he proved to be impotent and did not approach me except once during which he benefited nothing from me. Can I remarry my first husband in this case?" Allah's Apostle said, "It is unlawful to marry your first husband till the other husband consummates his marriage with you."

Once I stayed overnight in the house of my aunt Maimuna bint Al-Harith and Allah's Apostle was with her as it was her turn. Allah's Apostle got up to offer the night prayer. I stood on his left but he took hold of my two locks of hair and made me stand on his right.

Narrated Abu Bishr:

(the above Hadith) but he quoted: Ibn `Abbas said, (took hold of) my two braids on my head."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from a man of the Bani'd-Dil called Busr ibn Mihjan from his father Mihjan that he was in a gathering with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the call to prayer was made. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, rose and prayed and then returned. Mihjan remained sitting and did not pray with him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "What prevented you from praying with the people? Aren't you a muslim?" He said, "Of course, Messenger of Allah, but I have already prayed with my family." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When you come, pray with the people, even if you have prayed already."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to pray dhuhr, asr, maghrib, isha and subh at Mina. Then in the morning, after the sun had risen, he would go to Arafa .

Malik said, "What we are all agreed upon here (in Madina) is that the imam does not recite the Qur'an out loud in dhuhr on the day of Arafa, and that he gives a khutba to the people on that day, and that the prayer on the day of Arafa is really a dhuhr prayer, and even if it coincides with a jumua it is still a dhuhr prayer, but one which has been shortened because of travelling."

Malik said that the imam of the pilgrims should not pray the jumua prayer if the day of Arafa, the day of sacrifice or one of the three days after the day of sacrifice, was a Friday.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Bakr ibn Nafi from his father that the daughter of one of Safiyya bint Abi Ubayd's brothers was bleeding after she had given birth to a child at Muzdalifa. She and Safiyya were delayed and did not arrive at Mina until after the sun had set on the day of sacrifice. Abdullah ibn Umar told them both to stone the jamra at the time they arrived and he did not think that they owed anything.

Yahya said that Malik was asked about some one who forgot to stone one of the jamras on one of the days of Mina until it was evening and he said, "He should throw the stones at whatever time of day or night he remembers, just as he would pray the prayer if he forgot it and then remembered it at any time of day or night. If he remembers (that he has not done the stoning) after he has returned to Makka, or after he has left, he must sacrifice an animal."

(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).

The Prophet said, "The prayer offered in congregation is twenty five times more superior (in reward) to the prayer offered alone in one's house or in a business center, because if one performs ablution and does it perfectly, and then proceeds to the mosque with the sole intention of praying, then for each step which he takes towards the mosque, Allah upgrades him a degree in reward and (forgives) crosses out one sin till he enters the mosque. When he enters the mosque he is considered in prayer as long as he is waiting for the prayer and the angels keep on asking for Allah's forgiveness for him and they keep on saying: 'O Allah! Be Merciful to him, O Allah! Forgive him, as long as he keeps on sitting at his praying place and does not pass wind. (See Hadith No. 620).

The Prophet delivered the Khutba on the day of Nahr (`Id-ul-Adha) and said, "The first thing we should do on this day of ours is to pray and then return and slaughter (our sacrifices). So anyone who does so he acted according to our Sunna; and whoever slaughtered before the prayer then it was just meat that he offered to his family and would not be considered as a sacrifice in any way. My uncle Abu Burda bin Niyyar got up and said, "O, Allah's Apostle! I slaughtered the sacrifice before the prayer but I have a young she-goat which is better than an older sheep." The Prophet said, "Slaughter it in lieu of the first and such a goat will not be considered as a sacrifice for anybody else after you."

We were at Al-Ahwaz fighting the Al-Haruriya (tribe). While I was at the bank of a river a man was praying and the reins of his animal were in his hands and the animal was struggling and he was following the animal. (Shu`ba, a sub-narrator, said that man was Abu Barza Al-Aslami). A man from the Khawarij said, "O Allah! Be harsh to this sheik." And when the sheik (Abu Barza) finished his prayer, he said, "I heard your remark. No doubt, I participated with Allah's Apostle in six or seven or eight holy battles and saw his leniency, and no doubt, I would rather retain my animal than let it return to its stable, as it would cause me much trouble. "