Jabir said, “I used to pray the noon prayer with God’s Messenger, and would take a handful of pebbles to cool them in my palm and lay them down to put my forehead on them when prostrating myself because of the excessive heat.” Abu Dawud transmitted it, and Nasa’i transmitted something similar.

(This chapter does not contain sections I and III) Abu Bakra said that when anything came to God’s Messenger which caused pleasure (or, by which he was made glad), he prostrated himself in gratitude to God most high. Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi transmitted it, the latter saying this is a hasan gharib tradition.

'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said, "When there is a ruler in charge of you whose arrogance or injustice is feared, you should say, 'O Allah, Lord of the Seven Heavens and Lord of the Immense Throne, be my Protector against so-and-so, the son of so-and-so, and his followers among Your creatures so that none of them exceeds the bounds towards me or oppresses me. Your protection is mighty and Your praise is great. There is no god but You.'"

One of the Prophets made a holy war. He said to his followers: One who has married a woman and wants to consummate to his marriage but has not yet done so; another who has built a house but has not yet erected its roof; and another who has bought goats and pregnantshe-camels and is waiting for their offspring-will not accommpany me. So he marched on and approached a village at or about the time of the Asr prayers. He said to the sun: Thou art subserviant (to Allah) and so am I. O Allah, stop it for me a little. It was stopped for him until Allah granted him victory. The people gathered the spoils of war (at one place). A fire approached the spoils to devour them, but it did not devour them. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Some of you have been guilty of misappropriation. So one man from each tribe should swear fealty to me. The did so (putting their hands into his). The hand of one man stuck to his hand and the Prophet (may peace be upon him) said: Your tribe is guilty of misappropriation. Let all the members of your tribe swear fealty to me one by one. They did so, when the hands of two or three persons got stuck with his hand. He said: You have misappropriated. So they took out gold equal in volume to the head of a cow. They-placed it among the spoils on the earth. Then the fire approached the spoils and devoured them. The spoils of war were not made lawful for any people before us, This is because Allah saw our weakness and humility and made them lawful for us.

A prostration while reciting Surat Sad (Surah 38) is not one of the 'Azaa'im (those which are always required), but I have seen Allah's Messenger (SAW) prostrating while reciting it. [Reported by al-Bukhari].

“I met Thawban and said to him: ‘Tell me a Hadith that Allah may benefit me thereby.’ But he remained silent. Then I said the same and he remained silent. That happened three times. Then he said to me: ‘You should prostrate to Allah; for I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say: “No one prostrates to Allah but Allah will raise him one degree in status thereby and will erase one of his sins.” Ma’dan said: “Then I met Abu Darda’ and asked him the same question, and he gave a similar answer.”

`O my brother, do not forget us in your supplication.` And he said later in Madinah: `O my brother, include us in your supplication.` ʼUmar said: I would not like to have instead of that everything on which the sun rises, because of him saying: `O my brother.”

Safwan b. ‘Assal reported God’s messenger as saying, “God most high has placed in the west for repentance a gate with a breadth of seventy years’ journey, and it will not be locked as long the sun does not rise in its direction. That agrees with God’s words, ‘On the day that certain of the signs of your Lord come, a soul which has not believed before will not be benefited by believing in them ’.”* *Qur’an, vi, 158 Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

"In the market of Al-Madinah, a Jew said 'No! By the One who chose Musa above all humans.'" He said: "A man from the Ansar raised his hand and struck him in his face. He said 'You say this while Allah's Prophet (SAW) is among us?' So the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said 'And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will swoon away, except him whom Allah wills. Then it will blown another time and behold, they will be standing, looking on (39:68). So I shall be the first to raise his head and there will be Musa holding on to one of the supports of the Throne. So I will not know if he raised his head before me, or if he was one of those whom Allah made the exception for. And whoever says: 'I am better than Yunus bin Matta, then he has indeed lied.'"

`Ubada b. as-Samit reported God's messenger as saying, "In paradise there are a hundred stages between each two of which there is a distance like that between heaven and earth. Al-Firdaus from which issue the four rivers of paradise is the highest of them, and above it is the Throne; so, when you make request from God ask Him for al-Firdaus." Tirmidhi transmitted it. I have not found it in the two Sahihs or al-Humaidi's book[*]. *In Masabih as-sunna the source of each individual tradition is not given but those in section 1 are all called sahih and come from Bukhari or Muslim, or from both. One therefore does not expect to find a tradition from Tirmidhi in section 1. It occurs in his collection in Sifat al janna, 4. In Masabih as-sunna it does not say that this tradition comes from 'Ubada, but the Mishkat is correct in attributing it to him. There is one like it from Abu Huraira in Bukhari, jihad, 4, but the wording is not identical.

The Prophet (PBUH) used to recite frequently in his bowing and prostration: "Subhanak- Allahumma, Rabbana wa bihamdika. Allahum-maghfir li (O Allah! You are free from imperfection and I begin with praising You. Forgive my sins)."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

When the Prophet said, “God listens to him who praises Him,” he stood so long that we thought he had omitted something; then he would prostrate himself and sit between the sajdas so long that we thought he had omitted something. Muslim transmitted it.

The above (No 868) tradition has also been reported through a different chain of narrators by Uqbah ibn Amir to the same effect. This version adds: When the Messenger of Allah (saws) bowed, he said: "Glory and praise be to my mighty Lord" three times, and when he prostrated himself, he said: "Glory and praise be to my most high Lord" three times.

Abu Dawud said: We are afraid the addition of the word "praise" is not guarded.

He would observe witr with a single rak'ah and make a prostration as long as you would take to recite fifty verses before raising his head. When the mu'adhdhin finished his call for the dawn prayer and the dawn became clear to him.... Then the narrator transmitted the rest of the tradition to the same effect.

Some narrators added something more in their version.

when the prophet (may peace be upon him) prayed sitting, he recited the Quran in sitting condition. When the amount of his recitation remained about thirty or forty verses he stood up and recited them standing. He then bowed and prostrated and then did so in the second Rak’ah of the prayer.

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

Abu Humaid, Abu usaid, Sahl b. Sa’d and Muhammad b. Maslamah got together. Then he narrated this tradition. He did not mention the raising of hands when he stood after two rak’ahs, nor did he mention sitting. He said: When he finished (his prostration), he spread his foot (on the ground) and turned the toes of his right feet towards the qiblah(and then he sat on his left foot).

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as saying; When one of you stands up to pray, the devil comes to him and confuses him so that he does not know how much he has prayed. If any of you has such an experience, he should perform two prostrations while he is sitting.

Abu Dawud said; This tradition has been narrated in a similar manner by Ibn ‘Uyainab, Ma’mar and al-Laith.

When Allah's Messenger (SAW) (while on a journey) proceeded before the sun had declined from the centre of the sky, he (SAW) delayed the Zuhr prayer till the time of the 'Asr prayer; he (SAW) would then alight and combine the two prayers. If the sun declined before he (SAW) moved off, he (SAW) would offer the Zuhr prayer and ride (i.e. travel). [Agreed upon].

The Prophet (SAW) said, "There is no (prostrations of) forgetfulness for one who is led (in prayer) by an Imam, but when the Imam forgets, both should then make prostrations due to forgetfulness." [al-Bazzar and al-Baihaqi reported it through a weak chain of narrators].

“We broke our fast on a cloudy day at the time of the Messenger of Allah (saw), then the sun appeared.”

I (one of the narrators) said to Hisham: "Were they commanded to make up for that day?" He said: "It had to be made up." (According to Hisham's opinion).

he saw the Prophet sleeping, while in the prostration position, until he snored or snorted. Then he stoodup to pray. So I said: "O Messenger of Allah! You were sleeping?" He said: "Wudu is not required except for sleeping while reclining. For when one reclines, joints relax."

"The Prophet (S) would perform Salat while sitting. And he would recite while sitting. When about thirty or forty Ayah of his recitation remained he would standup and recite while he was standing, then he would bow and prostrate. Then he would do the same in the second Rak'ah."

‘A’isha said that God’s Messenger used to begin prayer with the takbir¹ and the recitation of “Praise be to God, the Lord of the universe.”² When he bowed he neither kept his head up nor bent it down, but kept it between these extremes; when he raised his head after bowing he did not prostrate himself till he had stood erect; when he raised head after a prostration he did not prostrate himself again till he had sat up. At the end of every two rak'as he said the tahiya;³ and he used to bend his left foot and raise up the right; he prohibited the devil’s way of sitting on the heels, and he forbade people to spread out their arms like a wild beast. And he used to finish the prayer with the taslim⁴. Muslim transmitted it. 1. i.e. saying Allahu Akbar (God is most great). 2. Al-Qur’an; 1. 3. This is a part of the prayers which comes at the end of every two rak'as, beginning with at-tahiyat lillah and ending with the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Tahiyat is the plural of tahiya and the phrase quoted above is variously explained as meaning that endless existence, or dominion, or kingship, or freedom from all evils, or freedom from all causes of cessation of existence belong to God. Alternatively it is taken in its usual meaning of salutations. 4. Saying, “The peace and mercy of God be upon you,” first with the head turned to the right and then with the head turned to the left. This is said at the end of the prayers.

'Abd Allah b. Rabah al-Ansari, whom the Ansar called faqih (juries), came to us from Medina, and reported us on the authority of Abu Qatadah al-Ansari, the horseman of the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying: The Messenger of Allah (saws) sent a military expedition consisting of the chief Companions. He then narrated the same story, saying Nothing awakened us except the rising sun. We stoop up in bewilderment, for our prayer. The Prophet (saws) said: Wait a little, wait a little. When the sun rose high, the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Those who sued to observer the two rak'ahs of Fajr prayer (sunnah prayer before obligatory prayer) should observe them. Then those who used to observe and those who would not observe stood up and said prayer. Then the Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded to call for prayer; the call for prayer was made accordingly. The Messenger of Allah (saws) stood and led us in prayer. When he turned away (from the prayer) he said: We thank Allah for the fact that we were not engaged in any wordily affairs which detained us from our prayer. Instead our souls were in the hands of Allah. He released them whenever He wished. If any one of you gets morning prayer tomorrow at its proper time, he should offer a similar prayer as an atonement.

the smoke, the dajjal, the beast of the earth, the rising of the sun in its place of setting, the trial which will affect all mankind[*], and the one which applies more particularly to one of you." *The Arabic is amr al-'amma which I prefer to explain as in the translation above. It could mean the rule in the hands of the common people. Muslim transmitted it.

"I noticed the Messenger of Allah (SAW) was missing one night and I found him prostrating with the tops of his feet facing toward the Qiblah. I heard him saying: 'A'udhu biridaka min sakhatika, wa a'udhu bimu 'afatika min 'uqubatika wa a'udhu bika minka la uhsi thana'an 'alaika anta kama athnaita 'ala nafsik (I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath; I seek refuge in Your forgiveness from Your punishment; I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot praise You enough, You are as You have praised Yourself.)"

"The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: 'I have been given five things that were not given to anyone before me: I have been supported with fear being struck into the hearts of my enemy for a distance of one month's travel; the earth has been made a place of prostration and a means of purification for me, so wherever a man of my Ummah is when the time for prayer comes, let him pray; I have been given the intercession which was not given to any Prophet before me; and I have been sent to all of mankind whereas the Prophets before me were sent to their own people."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ayyub ibn Abi Tamima as- Sakhtayani from Muhammad ibn Sirin from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, finished the prayer after two rakas and Dhu'l-Yadayn said to him, "Has the prayer been shortened or have you forgotten, Messenger of Allah?" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Has Dhu'l-Yadayn spoken the truth?" The people said, "Yes," and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood and prayed the other two rakas and then said, "Peace be upon you." Then he said, "Allah is greater" and went into a sadja as long as his usual prostrations or longer. Then he came up and said, "Allah is greater" and went into a sajda as long as his usual prostrations or longer and then came up.

Then when he finished he faced the people and said, “O people, I have done this only that you should be guided by me and know how I conduct prayer.”

It was narrated from Abu Bakrah that when the Prophet (saw) heard news that made him happy, or for which one should be happy, he would fall down prostrate in gratitude to Allah, the Blessed and Exalted.

We were in the company of the Messenger of Allah (saws) during one of his journeys. He overslept abandoning the morning prayer until the sun had arisen. The Messenger of Allah (saws) awoke and said: Go away from this place.

He then commanded Bilal to call for prayer. He called for prayer. They (the people) performed ablution and offered two rak'ahs of the morning prayer (sunnah prayer). He then commanded Bilal (to utter the iqamah, i.e. to summon the people to attend the prayer). He announced the prayer (i.e. uttered the iqamah) and he led them in the morning prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "O Allah! Do not make my grave an idol that is worshipped. The anger on those who took the graves of their Prophets as places of prostration was terrible."

"I was with my father at the plains of Namirah. I passed by a mount and saw Allah's Messenger standing in Salat." He said: "I was looking at the earthiness of his armpits when he prostrated." [That is]: "Whiteness."

‘A’isha said, “I was sleeping in front of God’s Messenger with my legs between him and the qibla. When he prostrated himself he pinched me and I drew up my legs, and when he stood up I stretched them out.” She added, “At that time there were no lamps in the houses.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Wa’il b. Hujr said he saw that when God’s Messenger prostrated himself he got down on his knees before putting his hands on the ground, and when he got up he raised his hands before his knees. Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it.

Nafi’ told how Ibn ‘Umar used to say, “He who puts his forehead on the ground should put the palms of his hands on the place where he put his forehead, then when he raises himself he should raise them, for the hands perform prostration just as the face does.” Malik transmitted it.

‘A’isha said that God’s Messenger used to pray sitting, and would recite the Qur’an while sitting; then when about thirty or forty verses of his recitation remained he stood up and recited while standing. Then he bowed, then he prostrated himself, and after that he did the same kind of thing in the second rak'a. Muslim transmitted it.

“I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say: ‘The Hour will not begin until the sun rises from the west (i.e. the place of its setting). When it rises, the people will see it, and everyone on (earth) will believe, but that will be at a time when faith will not benefit anyone who did not believe before.’”

""Some meat was brought to the Prophet (s.a.w) and a foreleg was presented to him, and he used to like it, so he bit from it. Then he said: 'I will be the 'Leader' of the people on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know why that is? Allah will gather the people, the first and the last, on one level ground where they will (all) be able to hear a caller, and all of them will be visible, and the sun will be brought near such that the people will suffer distress and trouble that they cannot tolerate nor bear. Then some people will say: "Don't you see the state you have reached? Why don't you look for a person who can intercede for you with your Lord? " Some of them will say to others: " You should go to Adam." So they will go to Adam and say, "You are the father of all mankind, Allah created you with His Own Hands, and breathed into you from His spirit (which He creted for you) and ordered the angels to prostrate for you. Will you not intercede for us with your Lord? Don't you see what has happened to us? Don't you see the state we have reached?" On that Adam will reply, "Today my Lord has become angry such that He has never before been angry, and will never be thereafter. He forbade me (to eat from) the tree, but I disobeyed(Him), Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to somebody else; Go to Nuh." They will go to Nuh and say: "O Nuh! You are the first among the Messengers to the people of the earth, and Allah named you a thankful slave. Will you not intercede for us with your Lord? Don't you see what has happened to us? Don't you see the state we have reached?" Nuh will say to them : "Today my Lord has become angry as He has never before been angry, and will never be thereafter. I had been given one supplication, and I supplicated against my own people. Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else! Go to Ibrahim." They will go to Ibrahim and say: "O Ibrahim! You are Allah's Prophet and His Khalil among the people of the earth, so intercede for us with your Lord, don't you see what hads happened to us?" He will say: "Today my Lord has become angry as He has never before been angry and will never be thereafter. Indeed I uttered three lies."- Abu Hayyyan (a narrator) mentioned them in his narration - " Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else! Go to Musa." So they will go to Musa and say: "O Musa! You are the Messenger of Allah who Allah distinguished above the people with His Message and His Speech, intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see what has happened to us?" So he will say "Today my Lord has become angry as He has never before been angry and will never be thereafter. Indeed I killed a person whom I was ordered not to kill. Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else; Go to 'Eisa." They will go to 'Eisa and say: "O 'Eisa ! You are the Messenger of Allah and His Word which He placed into Mariam, and a Spirit from Him, and you spoke to the people in the cradle. Intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see what has happened to us?" Then 'Eisa will say: "Today my Lord has become angry as He has never before been angry and will never be thereafter." He will not mention a sin, but will say: "Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else! Go to Muhammad." He said: 'They will go to Muhammad(s.a.w) and they say: "O Muhammad! You are the Messenger of Allah and the last of the Prophets, and your past and future sins have been pardoned. Will you not intercede for us with your Lord, don't you see what has happened to us?" Then I will depart until I come to under the Throne to fall prostrating before my Lord. Then Allah will guide me to such praises and beautiful statements of glorification which He did not guide anyone to before me. Then He will say: "O Muhammad! Raise your head. Ask,so that you may be granted and intercede so that your intercession may be accepted." I will raise my head and say: "O Lord! My Ummah! O Lord! My Ummah! O Lord! My Ummah!" He will say: "O Muhammad! Let those of your Ummah who have no accounts enter the gate on the right among the gates of Paradise, and they shall share in the gates other than that with the people.'" Then he (s.a.w) said: 'By the One in Whose Hand is my soul! What is between every two gate-posts in Paradise is as what is between Makkah and Hajar, and what is between Makkah and Busra.'"

Other chains report similar narrations.

It was narrated from Maimunah that when the Prophet (saw) prostrated, he would hold his forearms away from his sides, such that if a lamb wanted to pass under his arms, it would be able to do so.

“The Prophet (saw) offered prayer, I think it was the ‘Asr, and in the second Rak’ah he stood up before he sat. Before he said the Salam, he prostrated twice.”

I came to Medina and when I was in the company of the grandees of Quraish a man with a crude body and an uncouth face wearing coarse clothes came there. He stood up before them and said: Give glad tidings to those whom who amass riches of the stones which would be heated in the Fire of Hell, and would be placed at the tick of the chest till it would project from the shoulder bone and would he put on the shoulder bone till it would project from the tick of his chest, and it (this stone) would continue passing and repassing (from one side to the other). He (the narrator) said: Then people hung their heads and I saw none among them giving any answer. He then returned and I followed him till he sat near a pillar. I said: I find that these (people) disliked what you said to them and they do not understand anything. My friend Abu'l-Qasim (Muhammad) (may peace he upon him) called me and I responded to him, and he said: Do you see Uhud? I saw the sun (shining) on me and I thought that he would send me on an errand for him. So I said: I see it. Upon this he said: Nothing would delight me more than this that I should have gold like it (equal to the bulk of Uhud), and I should spend it all except three dinars. (How sad it is) that they hoard worldly riches, and they know nothing. I said: What about you and your brothers Quraish? You do not go to thein for any need and do not accept anything from them. He said: By Allah, I neither beg anything from them (from worldly goods), nor do I ask them anything about religion till I meet my Allah and His Messenger.

"I said to Ubayy bin Ka'b: 'O Abu Al-Mundhir! How do you know that it is the night of the twenty-seventh?' He said: 'Rather, the Messenger of Allah informed us that it is a night (after which) the sun rises without rays, so we counted and we remembered it. By Allah! Ibn Mas'ud learned that it is in Ramadan and that it is the nigh of the twenty-seventh, but he did not want to inform you lest you would depend on it."

"Do you crowd one another in order to see the moon on the night of a full moon? Do you crowd one another in order to see the sun?" They said: "No." He said: "So verily, you shall see your Lord as you see the moon on the night of a full moon, you shall not crowd one another to see Him."

Other chains report similar narrations.

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "On every joint of man, there is charity, on everyday when the sun rises: doing justice between two men is charity, and assisting a man to ride an animal or to load his luggage on it is charity; and a good word is charity, every step which one takes towards (the mosque for) Salat is charity, and removing harmful things from the way is charity".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

I was sitting with someone in the mosque of Kufah while the people of Kufah were with him. Then Sa'id ibn Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl came and he welcomed him, greeted him, and seated him near his foot on the throne. Then a man of the inhabitants of Kufah, called Qays ibn Alqamah, came. He received him and began to abuse him.

Sa'id asked: Whom is this man abusing? He replied: He is abusing Ali. He said: Don't I see that the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) are being abused, but you neither stop it nor do anything about it? I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say--and I need not say for him anything which he did not say, and then he would ask me tomorrow when I see him --AbuBakr will go to Paradise and Umar will go to Paradise. He then mentioned the rest of the tradition to the same effect (as in No. 4632).

He then said: The company of one of their man whose face has been covered with dust by the Messenger of Allah (saws) is better than the actions of one of you for a whole life time even if he is granted the life-span of Noah.

We went out with the Messenger of Allah (saws) to Najd. When we reached Dhat ar-Riqa at Nakhl (or in a valley with palm trees) he met a group of the tribe of Ghatafan. The narrator then reported the tradition to the same effect, but his version is other than that of Haywah. He added to the words "when he bowed along with those who were with him and prostrated" the words "when they stood up, they retraced their footsteps to the rows of their companions". He did not mention the words "their back was towards the qiblah".

I saw the Messenger of Allah(saws) that when he began prayer, he used to raise his hands opposite his shoulders, and he did so when he bowed, and raised his head after bowing. Sufyan(a narrator) once said: “When he raised his head:; and after he used to say: “When he raised his head after bowing. He would not raise (his hands) between the two prostrations."

”(O Allah), I seek refuge in Your good pleasure from Your anger, and in Your Mercy from Your Punishment, and I seek refuge from You in You; I am not able to praise You (the way that You deserve to be praised), for You are as You have praised Yourself”.

‘Abd Allah bin ‘Umar said “When the Apostle of Allaah(saws) returned from an expedition, Hajj or ‘Umrah on every rising piece of ground he would say three times “Allaah is Most Great” and he would say “There is no god bt Allaah alone who has no partner, to Whom the dominion belongs, to Whom praise is due, and Who is Omnipotent, serving, prostrating ourselves before our Lord and expressing praise. Allaah alone has kept his word, helped His servant and routed the confederate.