The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to recite in the morning prayer from sixty to one hundred verses.

" By the Fig and the Olive."

When Matar b. Najiya dominated Kufa he ordered Abu Ubaida to lead people in prayer, and the rest of the hadith is the same.

" he in fact finds the entire prayer".

We used to offer the 'Asr prayer, then one would go to Quba' and reach there and the sun would be still high.

Whenever he (the Holy Prophet) got up for prayer during the night, he cleansed his mouth with the tooth-stick.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) took (meat of) goat's shoulder and offered prayer and did not perform ablution.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When the Mu'adhdhin calls to prayer, Satan runs back vehemently.

People should avoid lifting their eyes towards the sky while supplicating in prayer, otherwise their eyes would be snatched away.

Mu'adh b. Jabal said the night prayer with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and then returned to his people and then led them in this prayer.

Mu'adh said the night prayer with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). He then came to the mosque of his people and led them in prayer.

None spoke in the cradle but only three (persons), Christ son of Mary, the second one the companion of Juraij. Juraij had got constructed a temple and confined himself in that. His mother came to him as he was busy in prayer and she said: Juraij. He said: My Lord, my mother (is calling me while I am engaged in) my prayer. He continued with the prayer. She returned and she came on the next day and he was busy in prayer, and she said: Juraij. And he said: My Lord, my mother (is calling me while I am engaged) in prayer, and he continued with the prayer and she went back, and then on the next day she again came and he was busy in prayer and she said: Juraij. And he said: My Lord, my mother (is calling me while I am engaged in my prayer, and he continued with the prayer, and she said: My Lord, don't give him death unless he has seen the fate of the prostitutes. The story of Juraij and that of his meditation and prayer gained currency amongst Bani Isra'il. There was a prostitute who had been a beauty incarnate. She said (to the people): If you like I can allure him to evil. She presented herself to him but he paid no heed (to her). She came to a shepherd who lived near the temple and she offered herself to him and he had a sexual intercourse with her and so she became pregnant arid when she gave birth to a child she said: This is from Juraij. So they came and asked him to get down and demolished the temple and began to beat him. He said: What is the matter? They said: You have committed fornication with this prostitute and she has given birth to a child from your loins. He said: Where is the child? They brought him (the child) and he said: just leave me so that I should observe prayer. And he observed prayer and when he finished, he came to the child. He struck his stomach and said: O boy, who is your father? lie said: He is such shepherd. So they turned towards Juraij, kissed him and touched him (for seeking blessing) and said: We are prepared to construct your temple with gold. He said. No, just rebuild it with mud as it had been, and they did that. Then there was a babe who was sucking his mother that a person dressed in fine garment came riding upon a beast. His mother said: O Allah, make my child like this one. He (the babe) left sucking and began to see towards him, and said: O Allah, don't make me like him. He then returned to the chest and began to suck the milk of his mother. He (Abu Huraira) said: I perceived as if I am seeing Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as he is explaining the scene of his sucking milk with his forefinger in his mouth and sucking that. He (Abu Huraira) further reported Allah's Apostle (may be peace upon him) as saying: There happened to pass by him a girl who was being beaten and they were saying: You have committed adultery and you have committed theft and she was saying: Allah is enough for me and He is my good Protector, and his mother said: O Allah, don't make my child like her and he left sucking the milk, and looked towards her and said: O Allah, make me like her, and there was a talk between them. She said: O with shaven head, a good-looking person happened to pass by and I said: O Allah, make my child like him, and you said: O Allah, don't make me like him, and they passed by a girl while they were beating her and saying: You committed fornication and you committed theft, and I said: O Allah, don't make my child like her, and you said: O Allah, make me like her. Thereupon he said: That person was a tyrant, and I said: O Allah, don't make me like him, and they were saying about her: You committed fornication whereas in fact she had not committed that and they were saying: You have committed theft whereas she had not committed theft, so I said: O Allah, make me like her.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to recite from sixty to one hundred verses in the morning prayer.

The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to place his camel (towards the Ka'ba) and said prayer in its direction.

" He who performed the ablution well and then offered the obligatory prayer."

Whenever the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had sexual intercourse and intended to eat or sleep, he performed the ablution of prayer.

" He (the man saying the prayer) does not know how much he has prayed.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Straighten your rows. for the straightening of a row is a part of the perfection of prayer.

" And utter not thy prayer loudly, not be low in it" (xvii. 110) relate to supplication (du'a').

Give alms, give alms, give alms, and the majority that gave alms was of women. He then returned and this (practice) remained (in vogue) till Marwan b. al- Hakam (came into power). I went out hand in hand with Marwan till we came to the place of worship and there Kathir b. Salt had built a pulpit of clay and brick. Marwan began to tug me with his hand as though he were pulling me towards the pulpit, while I was pulling him towards the prayer. When I saw him doing that I said: What has happened to the practice of beginning with prayer? He said: No, Abu Sa'id, what you are familiar with has been abandoned. I thereupon said (three times and went back): By no means, by Him in Whose hand my life is, you are not doing anything better than what I am familiar with.

'Alqama led us in the noon prayer and be offered five rak'ahs; when the prayer was complete, the people said to him: Abu Shibl, you have offered five rak'ahs. He said: No, I have not done that. They said: Yes (you said five rak'ahs). He (the narrator) said: And I was sitting in a corner among people and I was just a boy. I (also) said: Yes, you have offered five (rak'ahs). He said to me: O, one-eyed, do you say the same thing? I said: Yes. Upon this he turned (his face) and performed two prostrations and then gave salutations, and then reported 'Abdullah as saying: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) led us in prayer and offered five rak'ahs. And as he turned away the people began to whisper amongst themselves. He (the Holy Prophet) said: What is the matter with you? They said: Has the prayer been extended? He said: No. They said: You have in fact said five rak'ahs. He (the Holy Prophet) then turned his back (and faced the Qibla) and performed two prostrations and then gave salutations and further said: Verily I am a human being like you, I forget just as you forget. Ibn Numair made this addition:" When any one of you forgets, he must perform two prostrations."

It is Zainab. Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) withdrew his hand. There was an altercation between the two until their voices became loud (and it was at that time) when Iqama was pronounced for prayer. There happened to come Abu Bakr and he heard their voices and said: Messenger of Allah, (kindly) come for prayer, and throw dust in their mouths. So the Prophet (may peace be upon him) went out. 'A'isha said: When Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) would finish his prayer there would also come Abu Bakr and he would do as he does (on such occasions, i.e. reprimanding). When Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) had finished his prayer, there came to her Abu Bakr, and spoke to her ('A'isha) in stern words and said: Do you behave like this?

I and Masruq went to 'A'isha and said to her: Mother of the Believers, there are two persons among the Companions of Muhammad (may peace be upon him) one among whom hastens in breaking the fast and in observing prayer, and the other delays breaking the fast and delays observing prayer. She said: Who among the two hastens in breaking fast and observing prayers? We said, It is 'Abdullah. i. e. son of Mas'ud. whereupon she said: This is how the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) did. Abu Kuraib added: The second one was Abu Musa.

By Allah, I know well about it. Shu'ba said: To the best of my knowledge it was the twenty-seventh night for which the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) commanded us to stand for prayer. Shu'ba doubted these words: That it was the night for which the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) commanded us to stand for prayer. And (he further) said: This was narrated to me by a friend of mine from him (the Holy Prophet).

No one has ever narrated to me that he saw the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) observing the forenoon prayer, except Umm Hani. She, however, narrated that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) entered her house on the day of the Conquest of Mecca and prayed eight rak'ahs (adding): I never saw a shorter prayer than it except that he performed the bowing and prostration completely. But (one of the narrators) Ibn Bashshar in his narration made no mention of the word:" Never".

Have (people) behind you said prayer? They said: Yes. He stood between them ('Alqama and Aswad). One was on his right aide and the other was on his left. We then bowed and placed our hands on our knees. He struck our hands and then putting his hands together, palm to palm, placed them between his thighs. When he completed the prayer he said: This is how the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to do.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When it is a hot day, (delay) the prayer till the extreme heat passes away, for the intensity of heat is from the exhalation of Hell.

Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Refrain from saying (the noon prayer) till the extreme heat passes away, for the Intensity of heat is from the exhalation of Hell.

Abu Huraira narrated this hadith from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be up on him) by another chain of transmitters.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed the Zuhr prayer and a person recited Sabbih Isma Rabbik al-a'la (Glorify the name of thy Lord, the Most High) behind him. When he (the Holy Pro- phet) concluded the prayer he said: Who amongst you recited (the above-mentioned verse) or who amongst you was the reciter? A person said: It was I. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) observed: I thought as if someone amongst you was disputing with me (in what I was reciting).

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The Imam is appointed, so that he should be followed, so don't be at variance with him. Recite takbir when he recites it; bow down when he bows down and when he says:" Allah listens to him who praises Him," say:" O Allah, our Lord, to Thee be the Praise." And when he (the Imam) prostrates, you should also prostrate, and when he says prayer sitting, you should all observe prayer sitting.

I also moved along with him till he came to the people and (he found) that they had been saying their prayer under the Imamah of 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auf. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) could get one rak ah out of two and said (this) last rak'ah along with the people. When Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auf pronounced the salutation, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) got up to complete the prayer. This made the Muslims terrified and most of them began to recite the glory of the Lord. When the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) finished his prayer, he turned towards them and then said: You did well, or said with a sense of joy: You did the right thing that you said prayer at the appointed hour.

He who prayed at night should make Witr the end of his prayer, for the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) ordered this.

I used to pray with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and both his prayer and sermon were of moderate length.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) reciting Surat al-Tur (Mountain) (lii) in the evening prayer.

I never prayed behind an Imam who was more brief and more perfect in prayer than the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him).

They asked the Apostle (may peace be upon him) about the removal of (pebbles) in prayer, whereupon he said: If you do it, do it only once.

This heat is from the exhalation of Hell-fire, so delay the prayer till it is cool.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Whoever (woman) fumigates herself with perfume should not join us in the 'Isha' prayer.

" He abandoned saying prayer over the hypocrites who had died."

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent me (on an errand) while he was going to Banu Mustaliq. I came to him and he was engaged in prayer on the back of his camel. I talked to him and he gestured to me With his hand, and Zuhair gestured with his hand. I then again talked and he again (gestured to me with his hand). Zuhair pointed with his hand towards the ground. I heard him (the Holy Prophet) reciting the Qur'an and making a sign with his head. When he com- pleted the prayer he sa'id: What have you done (with regard to that business) for which I sent you? I could not talk with you but for the fact that I was engaged in prayer. Zuhair told that Abu Zubair was sitting with his face turned towards Qibla (as he transmitted this hadith). Abu Zuhair pointed towards Banu Mustaliq with his hand and the direction to which he pointed with his hand was not towards the Ka'ba.