I went to Sham with a group of the companions of `Abdullah (bin Mas`ud). Abu Ad-Darda' heard of our arrival so he came to us and said, "Is there anybody among you who can recite (Qur'an)" We replied in the affirmative. Then he asked, "Who is the best reciter?" They pointed at me. Then he told me to recite, so I recited the verse:-- 'By the night as it envelops 'By the day as it appears in brightness; By (Him Who created) male and the female.' (92.1-3) Abu Ad-Darda' then said to me, "Did you hear it (like this) from the mouth of your friend (`Abdullah bin Mas`ud)?" I said, "Yes." He said, "I too, heard it (like this) from the mouth of the Prophet, but these people do not consider this recitation as the correct one."

We were with Allah's Apostle on a journey, and when the sun set, he said to a man, "Get down and prepare a drink of Sawiq for me." The man said, "O Allah's Apostle! Will you wait till it is evening?" Allah's Apostle again said, "Get down and prepare a drink of Sawiq." The man said, "O Allah's Apostle! Will you wait till it is evening, for it is still daytime. " The Prophet again said, "Get down and prepare a drink of Sawiq." So the third time the man got down and prepared a drink of sawiq for him. Allah's Apostle drank thereof and pointed with his hand towards the East, saying, "When you see the night falling from this side, then a fasting person should break his fast."

Allah's Apostle forbade two ways of wearing clothes and two kinds of dealings. (A) He forbade the dealings of the Mulamasa and the Munabadha. In the Mulamasa transaction the buyer just touches the garment he wants to buy at night or by daytime, and that touch would oblige him to buy it. In the Munabadha, one man throws his garment at another and the latter throws his at the former and the barter is complete and valid without examining the two objects or being satisfied with them (B) The two ways of wearing clothes were Ishtimal-as-Samma, i e., to cover one's shoulder with one's garment and leave the other bare: and the other way was to wrap oneself with a garment while one was sitting in such a way that nothing of that garment would cover one's private part.

My ears heard and my eyes saw the Prophet when he spoke, "Anybody who believes in Allah and the Last Day, should serve his neighbor generously, and anybody who believes in Allah and the Last Day should serve his guest generously by giving him his reward." It was asked. "What is his reward, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, "(To be entertained generously) for a day and a night with high quality of food and the guest has the right to be entertained for three days (with ordinary food) and if he stays longer, what he will be provided with will be regarded as Sadaqa (a charitable gift). And anybody who believes in Allah and the Last Day should talk what is good or keep quiet (i.e. abstain from all kinds of dirty and evil talks).

(Al-Ahnaf said:) I went out carrying my arms during the nights of the affliction (i.e. the war between `Ali and `Aisha) and Abu Bakra met me and asked, "Where are you going?" I replied, "I intend to help the cousin of Allah's Apostle (i.e.,`Ali)." Abu Bakra said, "Allah's Apostle said, 'If two Muslims take out their swords to fight each other, then both of them will be from amongst the people of the Hell- Fire.' It was said to the Prophet, 'It is alright for the killer but what about the killed one?' He replied, 'The killed one had the intention to kill his opponent.'" (See Hadith No. 30, Vol. 1)

Narrated Al-Ahnaf:

Abu Bakra said: The Prophet said (as above, 204).

The Prophet said, "My example and the example of what I have been sent with is that of a man who came to some people and said, 'O people! I have seen the enemy's army with my own eyes, and I am the naked warner; so protect yourselves!' Then a group of his people obeyed him and fled at night proceeding stealthily till they were safe, while another group of them disbelieved him and stayed at their places till morning when the army came upon them, and killed and ruined them completely So this is the example of that person who obeys me and follows what I have brought (the Qur'an and the Sunna), and the example of the one who disobeys me and disbelieves the truth I have brought."

Allah's Apostle said, "O so-and-so, whenever you go to your bed (for sleeping) say, 'O Allah! I have surrendered myself over to you and have turned my face towards You, and leave all my affairs to You and depend on You and put my trust in You expecting Your reward and fearing Your punishment. There is neither fleeing from You nor refuge but with You. I believe in the Book (Qur'an) which You have revealed and in Your Prophet (Muhammad) whom You have sent.' If you then die on that night, then you will die as a Muslim, and if you wake alive in the morning then you will receive the reward." (See Hadith No. 323, Vol. 8)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Sulayman ibn Yasarfrom Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that a certain woman in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to bleed profusely, so Umm Salama consulted the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for her, and he said, "She should calculate the number of nights and days a month that she used to menstruate before it started happening, and she should leave off from prayerfor that much of the month. When she has completed that she should do ghusl, bind her private parts with a cloth, and then pray."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say the following dua, "O Allah, it is You who makes the dawn break and makes the night a time for rest and appoints the sun and moon to reckon by. Relieve me of debt and enrich me from poverty and let me enjoy my hearing, my sight and my strength in Your way."

Allahumma faliqa'l isbah, wa ja ila'l-layli sakana, wa 'sh-shamsi wa'l-qamari husbana. Iqda anniy addayna, wa'ghnaniy mina'l faqr. Na'mti aniy bi samiy wa basariy, wa quwwatiy fi sabilik.

Malik related to me from AIqama ibn Abi Alqama that his mother said that she had heard A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, rose one night and put on his clothes and then went out. I ordered my slave-girl, Barira, to follow him, and she followed him until he got to al-Baqi. He stood near it as long as Allah willed and then he left. Barira arrived back before him and told me and I did not say anything to him until morning, and then I mentioned it to him and he explained, 'I was sent out to the people of al-Baqi to pray for them.' "

We practiced I`tikaf with Allah's Apostle in the middle ten days (of Ramadan). In the morning of the twentieth (of Ramadan) we shifted our baggage, but Allah's Apostle came to us and said, "Whoever was m I`tikaf should return to his place of I`tikaf, for I saw (i.e. was informed about the date of) this Night (of Qadr) and saw myself prostrating in mud and water." When I returned to my place the sky was overcast with clouds and it rained. By Him Who sent Muhammad with the Truth, the sky was covered with clouds from the end of that day, and the mosque which was roofed with leafstalks of date palm trees (leaked with rain) and I saw the trace of mud and water over the nose of the Prophet and its tip.

Allah's Apostle said, "On the night of my Ascension to Heaven, I saw (the prophet) Moses who was a thin person with lank hair, looking like one of the men of the tribe of Shanua; and I saw Jesus who was of average height with red face as if he had just come out of a bathroom. And I resemble prophet Abraham more than any of his offspring does. Then I was given two cups, one containing milk and the other wine. Gabriel said, 'Drink whichever you like.' I took the milk and drank it. Gabriel said, 'You have accepted what is natural, (True Religion i.e. Islam) and if you had taken the wine, your followers would have gone astray.' "

Prayer in congregation is equivalent to twenty-five prayers (offered alone). If he prays in a jungle, and performs its bowing and prostrations perfectly, it becomes equivalent to fifty prayers (in respect of reward).

Abu Dawud said: 'Abd al-Walid b. Ziyad narrated in his version of this tradition: "Prayer said by a single person in a jungle is more excellent by multiplied degrees than prayer said in congregation."

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.

Allah's Apostle said, "If anyone of you can get one rak`a of the `Asr prayer before sunset, he should complete his prayer. If any of you can get one rak`a of the Fajr prayer before sunrise, he should complete his prayer."

Some people performed Tawaf (of the Ka`ba) after the morning prayer and then sat to listen to a preacher till sunrise, and then they stood up for the prayer. Then Aisha commented, "Those people kept on sitting till it was the time in which the prayer is disliked and after that they stood up for the prayer."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Malik said, "If the imam stops off on a journey in a town where jumua is obligatory and he gives a khutba and takes the jumua prayer for them, then the people of the town and any other people present do the jumua prayer with him."

Malik said, "If the imam gathers people for prayer while he is travelling in a town where the jumua prayer is not obligatory, then there is no jumua for him, nor for the people of the town, nor for anyone else who joins them for the prayer in congregation, and the people of the town and anyone else who is not travelling should complete the prayer."

Malik added, "A traveller does not have to do jumua "

The Messenger of Allah (saws) taught me and what he taught me is this: Observe the five prayers regularly. He said: I told (him): I have many works at these times; so give me a comprehensive advice which, if I follow, should be enough for me. He said: Observe the two afternoon prayers (al-asrayn). But the term al-asrayn (two afternoon prayers) was not used in our language. Hence I said: What is al-asrayn? He said: A prayer before the sunrise and a prayer before the sunset (i.e. the dawn and the afternoon prayers).

The Prophet saw expectoration in the direction of the Qibla of the mosque while he was leading the prayer, and scratched it off. After finishing the prayer, he said, "Whenever any of you is in prayer he should know that Allah is in front of him. So none should spit in front of him in the prayer."

Once we were traveling with the Prophet and we carried on traveling till the last part of the night and then we (halted at a place) and slept (deeply). There is nothing sweeter than sleep for a traveler in the last part of the night. So it was only the heat of the sun that made us to wake up and the first to wake up was so and so, then so and so and then so and so (the narrator `Auf said that Abu Raja' had told him their names but he had forgotten them) and the fourth person to wake up was `Umar bin Al- Khattab. And whenever the Prophet used to sleep, nobody would wake up him till he himself used to get up as we did not know what was happening (being revealed) to him in his sleep. So, `Umar got up and saw the condition of the people, and he was a strict man, so he said, "Allahu Akbar" and raised his voice with Takbir, and kept on saying loudly till the Prophet got up because of it. When he got up, the people informed him about what had happened to them. He said, "There is no harm (or it will not be harmful). Depart!" So they departed from that place, and after covering some distance the Prophet stopped and asked for some water to perform the ablution. So he performed the ablution and the call for the prayer was pronounced and he led the people in prayer. After he finished from the prayer, he saw a man sitting aloof who had not prayed with the people. He asked, "O so and so! What has prevented you from praying with us?" He replied, "I am Junub and there is no water. " The Prophet said, "Perform Tayammum with (clean) earth and that is sufficient for you." Then the Prophet proceeded on and the people complained to him of thirst. Thereupon he got down and called a person (the narrator `Auf added that Abu Raja' had named him but he had forgotten) and `Ali, and ordered them to go and bring water. So they went in search of water and met a woman who was sitting on her camel between two bags of water. They asked, "Where can we find water?" She replied, "I was there (at the place of water) this hour yesterday and my people are behind me." They requested her to accompany them. She asked, "Where?" They said, "To Allah's Apostle ." She said, "Do you mean the man who is called the Sabi, (with a new religion)?" They replied, "Yes, the same person. So come along." They brought her to the Prophet and narrated the whole story. He said, "Help her to dismount." The Prophet asked for a pot, then he opened the mouths of the bags and poured some water into the pot. Then he closed the big openings of the bags and opened the small ones and the people were called upon to drink and water their animals. So they all watered their animals and they (too) all quenched their thirst and also gave water to others and last of all the Prophet gave a pot full of water to the person who was Junub and told him to pour it over his body. The woman was standing and watching all that which they were doing with her water. By Allah, when her water bags were returned the looked like as if they were more full (of water) than they had been before (Miracle of Allah's Apostle) Then the Prophet ordered us to collect something for her; so dates, flour and Sawiq were collected which amounted to a good meal that was put in a piece of cloth. She was helped to ride on her camel and that cloth full of foodstuff was also placed in front of her and then the Prophet said to her, "We have not taken your water but Allah has given water to us." She returned home late. Her relatives asked her: "O so and so what has delayed you?" She said, "A strange thing! Two men met me and took me to the man who is called the Sabi' and he did such and such a thing. By Allah, he is either the greatest magician between this and this (gesturing with her index and middle fingers raising them towards the sky indicating the heaven and the earth) or he is Allah's true Apostle." Afterwards the Muslims used to attack the pagans around her abode but never touched her village. One day she said to her people, "I think that these people leave you purposely. Have you got any inclination to Islam?" They obeyed her and all of them embraced Islam. Abu `Abdullah said: The word Saba'a means "The one who has deserted his old religion and embraced a new religion." Abul 'Ailya [??] said, "The S`Abis are a sect of people of the Scripture who recite the Book of Psalms."

Allah's Apostle forbade the offering of two prayers: -1. after the morning prayer till the sunrises. -2. after the `Asr prayer till the sun sets.

The Prophet (saws) said: The prayer a man offers in his house is more excellent than his prayer in this mosque of mine except obligatory prayer.

Some reliable people testified before me, and among them was Umar ibn al-Khattab, and most reliable in my eyes was Umar: The Prophet of Allah (saws) said: There is no prayer after the dawn prayer until the sun rises; and there is no prayer after the 'Asr prayer until the sun sets.

When the Prophet came to Medina, he stayed first with his grandfathers or maternal uncles from Ansar. He offered his prayers facing Baitul-Maqdis (Jerusalem) for sixteen or seventeen months, but he wished that he could pray facing the Ka'ba (at Mecca). The first prayer which he offered facing the Ka'ba was the 'Asr prayer in the company of some people. Then one of those who had offered that prayer with him came out and passed by some people in a mosque who were bowing during their prayers (facing Jerusalem). He said addressing them, "By Allah, I testify that I have prayed with Allah's Apostle facing Mecca (Ka'ba).' Hearing that, those people changed their direction towards the Ka'ba immediately. Jews and the people of the scriptures used to be pleased to see the Prophet facing Jerusalem in prayers but when he changed his direction towards the Ka'ba, during the prayers, they disapproved of it.

Al-Bara' added, "Before we changed our direction towards the Ka'ba (Mecca) in prayers, some Muslims had died or had been killed and we did not know what to say about them (regarding their prayers.) Allah then revealed: And Allah would never make your faith (prayers) to be lost (i.e. the prayers of those Muslims were valid).' " (2:143).

Abu Qilaba said, "Malik bin Huwairith came to us and led us in the prayer in this mosque of ours and said, 'I lead you in prayer but I do not want to offer the prayer but just to show you how Allah's Apostle performed his prayers." I asked Abu Qilaba, "How was the prayer of Malik bin Huwairith?" He replied, "Like the prayer of this Sheikh of ours-- i.e. `Amr bin Salima." That Sheikh used to pronounce the Takbir perfectly and when he raised his head from the second prostration he would sit for a while and then support himself on the ground and get up.

While the Muslims were offering the Fajr prayer on Monday and Abu Bakr was leading them in prayer, suddenly Allah's Apostle lifted the curtain of `Aisha's dwelling and looked at them while they were in the rows of the prayers and smiled. Abu Bakr retreated to join the row, thinking that Allah's Apostle wanted to come out for the prayer. The Muslims were about to be put to trial in their prayer (i.e. were about to give up praying) because of being overjoyed at seeing Allah's Apostle. But Allah's Apostle beckoned them with his hand to complete their prayer and then entered the dwelling and let fall the curtain.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Amr ibn Rafi said, "I was writing a Qur'an for Hafsa, umm al-muminin, and she said, 'When you reach this ayat, let me know, "Guard the prayers carefully and the middle prayer and stand obedient to Allah." When I reached it I told her and she dictated to me, 'Guard the prayers carefully and the middle prayer and the asr prayer and stand obedient to Allah.' "

The Prophet led us in Zuhr prayer and prayer five rak`at. Somebody asked him whether the prayer had been increased." He (the Prophet ) said, "And what is that?" They (the people) replied, "You have prayed five rak`at." Then the Prophet offered two prostrations (of Sahu) after he had finished his prayer with the Taslim.

The people mentioned the fire and the bell (they suggested those as signals to indicate the starting of prayers), and by that they mentioned the Jews and the Christians. Then Bilal was ordered to pronounce Adhan for the prayer by saying its wordings twice, and for the Iqama (the call for the actual standing for the prayers in rows) by saying its wordings once. (Iqama is pronounced when the people are ready for the prayer).

The Qur'an is recited in every prayer and in those prayers in which Allah's Apostle recited aloud for us, we recite aloud in the same prayers for you; and the prayers in which the Prophet recited quietly, we recite quietly. If you recite "Al-Fatiha" only it is sufficient but if you recite something else in addition, it is better.

"When the prayers were first enjoined they were of two rak`at each. Later the prayer in a journey was kept as it was but the prayers for non-travelers were completed." Az-Zuhri said, "I asked `Urwa what made Aisha pray the full prayers (in journey)." He replied, "She did the same as `Uthman did."

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: He who leads the people in prayer, and he does so at the right time, will receive, as well as those who are led (in prayer) will get (the reward). He who delays (prayer) from the appointed time will be responsible (for this delay) and not those who are led in prayer.

Ibn `Abbas said, "We stayed for 19 days with Prophet on a journey during which we used to offer shortened prayers." Ibn `Abbas added, "We offer the Qasr prayer (i.e. shortened prayer) If we stay up to 19 days as travelers, But if we stay longer, we offer complete prayers.

When the Mu'adh-dhin pronounced the Adhan for Fajr prayer and the dawn became evident the Prophet ordered a two rak`at light prayer (Sunna) before the Iqama of the compulsory (congregational) prayer.

Allah's Apostle said, "If the Imam leads the prayer correctly then he and you will receive the rewards but if he makes a mistake (in the prayer) then you will receive the reward for the prayer and the sin will be his."

When the Muslims arrived at Medina, they used to assemble for the prayer, and used to guess the time for it. During those days, the practice of Adhan for the prayers had not been introduced yet. Once they discussed this problem regarding the call for prayer. Some people suggested the use of a bell like the Christians, others proposed a trumpet like the horn used by the Jews, but `Umar was the first to suggest that a man should call (the people) for the prayer; so Allah's Apostle ordered Bilal to get up and pronounce the Adhan for prayers.