Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that he went to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and found him observing prayer on a mat and prostrating on that.

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) got up to pray at night (for tahajjud prayer) he uttered the takbir and then said: "Glory be to Thee, O Allah," and "Praise be to Thee" and "Blessed is Thy name," and Exalted is Thy greatness." and "There is no god but Thee." He then said: "There is no god but Allah" three times; he then said: "Allah is altogether great" three times: "I seek refuge in Allah, All-Hearing and All-Knowing from the accursed devil, from his evil suggestion (hamz), from his puffing up (nafkh), and from his spitting (nafth)" He then recited (the Qur'an).

Abu Dawud said: It is said that this tradition has been narrated by 'Ali b. 'Ali from al-Hasan omitting the name of the Companion of the Prophet (saws). The misunderstanding occurred on the part of Ja'far.

The Prophet (saws) said: When one of you prays, and he does not know whether he prayed more or less rak'ahs (than those prescribed by the Shari'ah), he should perform two prostrations while he is sitting. If the devil comes to him, and tells him (suggests him): "You have been defiled," he should say: "You have told a lie," except that he feels smell with his nose, or sound with his ears (then his ablution will break). These are the wording; of the tradition reported by Aban.

Abu Dawud said: Ma'mar and 'Abi b. al-Mubarak mentioned the name "Iyad b. Hilal and al-Awza'i mentioned the name of Iyad b. Abi Zuhair.