Allah's Apostle said, "The congregational prayer of anyone amongst you is more than twenty (five or twenty seven) times in reward than his prayer in the market or in his house, for if he performs ablution completely and then goes to the mosque with the sole intention of performing the prayer, and nothing urges him to proceed to the mosque except the prayer, then, on every step which he takes towards the mosque, he will be raised one degree or one of his sins will be forgiven. The angels will keep on asking Allah's forgiveness and blessings for everyone of you so long as he keeps sitting at his praying place. The angels will say, 'O Allah, bless him! O Allah, be merciful to him!' as long as he does not do Hadath or a thing which gives trouble to the other." The Prophet further said, "One is regarded in prayer so long as one is waiting for the prayer."

My companions, who came with me in the boat and I landed at a place called Baqi [??] Buthan [??] . The Prophet was in Medina at that time. One of us used to go to the Prophet by turns every night at the time of the `Isha prayer. Once I along with my companions went to the Prophet and he was busy in some of his affairs, so the `Isha' prayer was delayed to the middle of the night He then came out and led the people (in prayer). After finishing from the prayer, he addressed the people present there saying, "Be patient! Don't go away. Have the glad tiding. It is from the blessing of Allah upon you that none amongst mankind has prayed at this time save you." Or said, "None except you has prayed at this time." Abu Musa added, 'So we returned happily after what we heard from Allah's Apostle ."

Ikrimah reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas, saying: I think the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: When one of you prays without a sutrah, a dog, an ass, a pig, a Jew, a Magian, and a woman cut off his prayer, but it will suffice if they pass in front of him at a distance of over a stone's throw.

Abu Dawud said: There is something about this tradition in my heart. I used to discuss it with Ibrahim and others. I did not find anyone who narrated it from Hisham and knew it. I did not know anyone who reported it from Hisham and knew it. I did not know anyone who related it from Hisham. I think the confusion is on the part of Ibn Abi Saminah that is, Muhammad b. Isma'il al-Basri, the freed slave of Banu Hisham. In this tradition the mention of words "a Magian" is rejected; the mention of the words "at a stone's throw" and "a pig" is rejected.

Abu Dawud said: I did not hear this tradition except from Muhammad b. Isma'il b. Samurrah and I think he was mistaken because he used to narrate to us from his memory.

Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until the sun rises from the West: and when the people see it, then whoever will be living on the surface of the earth will have faith, and that is (the time) when no good will it do to a soul to believe then, if it believed not before." (6.158)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Damra ibn Said al-Mazini from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud that Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Abu Waqid al-Laythi what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to recite in the prayers of Adha and Fitr. He said, "He used to recite Qaf (Sura 50) and al-lnshiqaq (Sura84)."

Allah's Apostle said, "There will be afflictions (in the near future) during which a sitting person will be better than a standing one, and the standing one will be better than a walking one, and the walking one will be better than a running one, and whoever will expose himself to these afflictions, they will destroy him. So whoever can find a place of protection or refuge from them, should take shelter in it."

Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts).

The Prophet (saws) said: There is no prostitution in Islam. If anyone practised prostitution in pre-Islamic times, the child will be attributed to the master (of the slave-woman). He who claims his child without a valid marriage or ownership will neither inherit nor be inherited.

'Urwa has narrated it on the authority of 'A'isha that when Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) took a bath because of sexual intercourse, he first washed his hands before dipping one of them into the basin, and then performed ablu- tion as is done for prayer.

The Prophet (saws) used his right hand for getting water for ablution and taking food, and his left hand for his evacuation and for anything repugnant.

AbuUthman an-Nahdi said: When Ibn Mas'ud prayed he placed his left hand on the right. The Prophet (saws) saw him and placed his right hand on his left one.

I heard Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) while he was on the pulpit speaking about charity, to abstain from asking others for some financial help and about begging others, saying, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is that of the giver and the lower (hand) is that of the beggar."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "You should not pray while you are holding your bowels."

I purposely looked at the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws), how he offered it. The Messenger of Allah (saws) stood up, faced the direction of the qiblah and uttered the takbir (Allah is most great) and then raised his hands in front of his ears, then placed his right hand on his left (catching each other).

When he was about to bow, he raised them in the same manner. He then placed his hands on his knees. When he raised his head after bowing, he raised them in the like manner. When he prostrated himself he placed his forehead between his hands.

He then sat down and spread his left foot and placed his left hand on his left thigh, and kept his right elbow aloof from his right thigh. He closed his two fingers and made a circle (with the fingers).

I (Asim ibn Kulayb) saw him (Bishr ibn al-Mufaddal) say in this manner. Bishr made the circle with the thumb and the middle finger and pointed with the forefinger.

(the wife of the Prophet) That she came to visit Allah's Apostle while he was in I`tikaf (i.e. seclusion in the Mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan). When she got up to return, Allah's Apostle got up with her and accompanied her, and when he reached near the gate of the Mosque close to the door (of the house) of Um Salama, the wife of the Prophet, two Ansari men passed by them and greeted Allah's Apostle and then went away. Allah's Apostle addressed them saying, "Don't hurry! (She is my wife)," They said, "Glorified be Allah! O Allah's Apostle (You are far away from any suspicion)," and his saying was hard on them. Allah's Apostle said, "Satan circulates in the mind of a person as blood does (in his body). I was afraid that Satan might put some (evil) thoughts in your minds."

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by Hammam from ibn Juhadah, but he did not mention the raising of hands after he raised his head at the end of the prostration.

The worst of three (persons riding one, animal) was mentioned in `Ikrima's presence `Ikrima said, "Ibn `Abbas said, '(In the year of the conquest of Mecca) the Prophet came and mounted Qutham in front of him and Al-Fadl behind him, or Qutham behind him and Al-Fadl in front of him.' Now which of them was the worst off and which was the best?"

This tradition has been narrated on the authority of Sufyan with the addition from Abd ar-Razzaq (one of the narrators) explaining the meaning of shikal as a bone whose right back foot and left front foot or left back foot and right front foot are white.

I saw that the Prophet (saws) placed his knees (on the ground) before placing his hands when he prostrated himself. And when he stood up, he raised his hands before his knees.

I heard from Allah's Apostle a narration which none other than I will narrate to you. The Prophet, said, "From among the portents of the our are the following: General ignorance (in religious affairs) will prevail, (religious) knowledge will decrease, illegal sexual intercourse will prevail, alcoholic drinks will be drunk (in abundance), men will decrease and women will increase so much so that for every fifty women there will be one man to look after them."

I heard Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan delivering a sermon. He said, "I heard the Prophet saying, "If Allah wants to do a favor to somebody, He bestows on him, the gift of understanding the Qur'an and Sunna. I am but a distributor, and Allah is the Giver. The state of this nation will remain good till the Hour is established, or till Allah's Order comes."