The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: When a man stands with the intention of saying prayer, or if any of you says prayer, he should not spit before him, nor at his right side; but he should do so at his left side, if there is a place for it; or he should spit under his left foot and then rub it off.

Abdullah (b. 'Umar) reported that whenever Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) entered Mecca, he got down at Dhi Tuwa and spend the night there until he observed the dawn prayer. And Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) observed this prayer on a rough hillock, and not in the mosque which had been then built there, but to the lower side of it (the mosque) on a hillock.

Allah's Apostle said, "When the (upper) edge of the sun appears (in the morning), don't perform a prayer till the sun appears in full, and when the lower edge of the sun sets, don't perform a prayer till it sets completely. And you should not seek to pray at sunrise or sunset for the sun rises between two sides of the head of the devil (or Satan).

We were in the company of the Prophet when he performed the `Umra. He performed the Tawaf and we did the same; he offered the prayer and we also offered the prayer with him. Then he performed the Sai between Safa and Marwa and we were guarding him against the people of Mecca so that nobody should harm him.

The Prophet used to pray the Zuhr at midday, and the `Asr at a time when the sun was still bright, the Maghrib after sunset (at its stated time) and the `Isha at a variable time. Whenever he saw the people assembled (for `Isha' prayer) he would pray earlier and if the people delayed, he would delay the prayer. And they or the Prophet used to offer the Fajr Prayers when it still dark.

My father said, "The Prophet uses to recite Al-Fatiha followed by another Sura in the first two rak`at of the prayer and used to recite only Al-Fatiha in the last two rak`at of the Zuhr prayer. Sometimes a verse or so was audible and he used to prolong the first rak`a more than the second and used to do the same in the `Asr and Fajr prayers."

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.'

Ibn `Abbas was asked, "Did you offer the Id prayer with the Prophet?" He said, "Yes, had it not been for my close relation to the Prophet, I would not have performed it (with him) because of my being too young The Prophet came to the mark which is near the home of Kathir bin As-Salt and offered the Id prayer and then delivered the sermon. I do not remember if any Adhan or Iqama were pronounced for the prayer. Then the Prophet ordered (the women) to give alms, and they started stretching out their hands towards their ears and throats (giving their ornaments in charity), and the Prophet ordered Bilal to go to them (to collect the alms), and then Bilal returned to the Prophet.

When the Prophet (saws) finished two rak'ahs of an obligatory prayer, a man asked him: Messenger of Allah, has the prayer been shortened, or have you forgotten? he replied: I did not do all that. The people said: Messenger of Allah, you did that. Therefore, he offered another two rak'ahs or prayer and did not make two prostrations due to forgetfulness.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been narrated by Dawud al-Hussain from Abu Sufyan, freed slave of Ibn Abi Ahmad on the authority of Abu Hurairah from the Prophet (saws). This version goes: He then made two prostrations while he was sitting after the salutation.

By chance I went to the Prophet at noon while he was at Al-Abtah (resting) in a tent. Bilal came out (of the tent) and pronounced the Adhan for the prayer, and entering again, he brought out the water which was left after Allah's Apostle had performed the ablution. The people rushed to take some of the water. Bilal again went in and brought out a spear-headed stick, and then Allah's Apostle came out. As if I were now looking at the whiteness of his leg. Bilal fixed the stick and the Prophet offered a two-rak`at Zuhr prayer and a two-rak`at `Asr prayer, while women and donkeys were passing in front of the Prophet (beyond the stick) .

The Prophet used to face us on completion of the prayer.

A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! By Allah, I fail to attend the morning congregational prayer because so-and-so (i.e., Mu`adh bin Jabal) prolongs the prayer when he leads us for it." I had never seen the Prophet more furious in giving advice than he was on that day. He then said, "O people! some of you make others dislike (good deeds, i.e. prayers etc). So whoever among you leads the people in prayer, he should shorten it because among them there are the old, the weak and the busy (needy having some jobs to do). (See Hadith No. 90, Vol. 1)

(freed slave of) Ziyad: I heard Abu Sa`id Al-khudri narrating four things from the Prophet and I appreciated them very much. He said, conveying the words of the Prophet. (1) "A woman should not go on a two day journey except with her husband or a Dhi-Mahram. (2) No fasting is permissible on two days: `Id-ul-Fitr and `Id-ul-Adha. (3) No prayer after two prayers, i.e. after the Fajr prayer till the sunrises and after the `Asr prayer till the sun sets. (4) Do not prepare yourself for a journey except to three Mosques, i.e. Al-Masjid-AI-Haram, the Mosque of Aqsa (Jerusalem) and my Mosque."

Mu`adh bin Jabal used to pray with the Prophet and then go to lead his people in prayer. Once he led the people in prayer and recited Surat-al-Baqara. A man left (the row of the praying people) and offered (light) prayer (separately) and went away. When Mu`adh came to know about it, he said. "He (that man) is a hypocrite." Later that man heard what Mu`adh said about him, so he came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are people who work with our own hands and irrigate (our farms) with our camels. Last night Mu`adh led us in the (night) prayer and he recited Sura-al-Baqara, so I offered my prayer separately, and because of that, he accused me of being a hypocrite." The Prophet called Mu`adh and said thrice, "O Mu`adh! You are putting the people to trials? Recite 'Washshamsi wad-uhaha' (91) or'Sabbih isma Rabbi ka-l-A'la' (87) or the like."

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.

Ibn `Umar said, "Allah's Apostle said, 'If the supper is served for anyone of you and the Iqama is pronounced, start with the supper and don't be in haste (and carry on eating) till you finish it." If food was served for Ibn `Umar and Iqama was pronounced, he never came to the prayer till he finished it (i.e. food) in spite of the fact that he heard the recitation (of the Qur'an) by the Imam (in the prayer).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sadaqa ibn Yasar that al- Mughira ibn Hakim saw Abdullah ibn Umar sit back from the two sajdas of the prayer onto the top of his feet. When he had finished, al- Mughira mentioned it to him, and Abdullah ibn Umar explained, "It is not a sunna of the prayer. I do it because I am ill."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Said ibn Abi Waqqas used to pass in front of some of the rows while the prayer was in progress.

Malik said, "I consider that it is permissible to do that if the iqama for the prayer has been said and the imam has said the initial takbir and a man cannot find any way into the mosque except by going between the rows."

The Prophet (came to my house and) asked permission for entering and I allowed him. He asked, "Where do you like me to pray in your house?" I pointed to a place which I liked. He stood up for prayer and we aligned behind him and he finished the prayer with Taslim and we did the same.

The Prophet led us in prayer and then went up to the pulpit and beckoned with both hands towards the Qibla of the mosque and then said, "When I started leading you in prayer, I saw the display of Paradise and Hell on the wall of the mosque (facing the Qibla). I never saw good and bad as I have seen today." He repeated the last statement thrice.

`Umar said to Sa`d, "The people complained against you in everything, even in prayer." Sa`d replied, "Really I used to prolong the first two rak`at and shorten the last two and I will never shorten the prayer in which I follow Allah's Apostle." `Umar said, "You are telling the truth and that is what I think a tout you."

I used to go to the place of prayer on the day of the breaking of the fast, and on the day of sacrifice along with the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws). We would walk through a valley known as Batn Bathan till we came to the place of prayer. Then we would pray along with the Messenger of Allah (saws) and return through Batn Bathan to our house.

A man recited Surat-al-Kahf (in his prayer) and in the house there was a (riding) animal which got frightened and started jumping. The man finished his prayer with Taslim, but behold! A mist or a cloud hovered over him. He informed the Prophet of that and the Prophet said, "O so-and-so! Recite, for this (mist or cloud) was a sign of peace descending for the recitation of Qur'an."

Ubaidullah b. 'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported on the authority of his father (Allah be pleased with them) that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) combined the sunset and 'Isha', prayers at Muzdalifa and there was no prostration (i. e. any rak'ahs of Sunan or Nawafil prayers) in between them. He observed three rak'ahs of the sunset prayer and two rak'ahs of the 'Isha' prayer, and 'Abdullah (b. 'Umar) observed the prayers in this very manner (at Muzdalifa) until he met his Lord.

Allah's Apostle used to pray eleven rak`at at night and that was his night prayer and each of his prostrations lasted for a period enough for one of you to recite fifty verses before Allah's Apostle raised his head. He also used to pray two rak`at (Sunnah) before the (compulsory) Fajr prayer and then lie down on his right side till the Mu'adh-dhin came to him for the prayer.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: Were it not hard on my ummah, I would order them to use the tooth-stick at the time of every prayer. AbuSalamah said: Zayd ibn Khalid used to attend the prayers in the mosque with his tooth-stick on his ear where a clerk carries a pen, and whenever he got up for prayer he used it.