Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Abi Layla reported: I came across Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah who said: Shall I offer you a present? The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us, and we said: O Messenger of Allah, we have learned how to greet you, but how should we invoke the blessings of Allah upon you? He said: "Say: Allāhumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala āli Muhammad kama sallayta ‘ala āli Ibrāhīm innaka hamīdun majīd. Allāhumma bārik' ala Muhammad wa' ala āli Muhammad kama bārakta' ala āli Ibrāhīm innaka hamīdun majīd (O Allah, bestow Your grace upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You bestowed Your grace upon the family of Abraham. Verily, You are Praiseworthy, All-Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You blessed the family of Abraham. Verily, You are Praiseworthy, All-Glorious)."

‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Abi Layla reported: I came across Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah who said: Shall I offer you a present? The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us, and we said: O Messenger of Allah, we have learned how to greet you, but how should we invoke the blessings of Allah upon you? He said: "Say: Allāhumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala āli Muhammad kama sallayta ‘ala āli Ibrāhīm innaka hamīdun majīd. Allāhumma bārik' ala Muhammad wa' ala āli Muhammad kama bārakta' ala āli Ibrāhīm innaka hamīdun majīd (O Allah, bestow Your grace upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You bestowed Your grace upon the family of Abraham. Verily, You are Praiseworthy, All-Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You blessed the family of Abraham. Verily, You are Praiseworthy, All-Glorious)."

‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Abi Layla reported: I came across Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah who said: Shall I offer you a present? The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us, and we said: O Messenger of Allah, we have learned how to greet you, but how should we invoke the blessings of Allah upon you? He said: "Say: Allāhumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala āli Muhammad kama sallayta ‘ala āli Ibrāhīm innaka hamīdun majīd. Allāhumma bārik' ala Muhammad wa' ala āli Muhammad kama bārakta' ala āli Ibrāhīm innaka hamīdun majīd (O Allah, bestow Your grace upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You bestowed Your grace upon the family of Abraham. Verily, You are Praiseworthy, All-Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You blessed the family of Abraham. Verily, You are Praiseworthy, All-Glorious)."

Thawbān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) finished his prayer, he would seek Allah’s forgiveness three times and say: "Allahumma anta as-salām wa minka as-salām, tabārakta yadha al-jalāl wa al-ikrām (O Allah, You are As-Salām (peace, perfection), and as-salām comes from You. Blessed are You, O Possessor of Glory and Honor)". Al-Walīd said: I said to Al-Awzā‘i: "How is the seeking of forgiveness?" He said: "You say: Astaghfirullāh, astaghfirullāh (I seek forgiveness from Allah, I seek forgiveness from Allah)."

Thawbān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) finished his prayer, he would seek Allah’s forgiveness three times and say: "Allahumma anta as-salām wa minka as-salām, tabārakta yadha al-jalāl wa al-ikrām (O Allah, You are As-Salām (peace, perfection), and as-salām comes from You. Blessed are You, O Possessor of Glory and Honor)". Al-Walīd said: I said to Al-Awzā‘i: "How is the seeking of forgiveness?" He said: "You say: Astaghfirullāh, astaghfirullāh (I seek forgiveness from Allah, I seek forgiveness from Allah)."

Talhah ibn ‘Ubaydullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: We used to pray and animals would pass in front of us. We mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) so he said: "If anything, like the back of the saddle, is placed in front of anyone of you, then nothing that passes in front of him (but behind that thing) can harm him."

Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "When one of you stands up to pray, he should put a screen in front of him as tall as the height of the back of a saddle. If he does not have something the height of the back of a saddle in front of him, his prayer would be invalidated if a donkey, a woman, or a black dog passed in front of him." I asked: “O Abu Dharr, what is the difference between a black dog and a red or a yellow dog?” He said: “O nephew, I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) the same question and he answered: "A black dog is a devil.” According to a narration by Ibn ‘Abbās: "Prayer is invalidated by [the passing of] a menstruating woman and a dog."

Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I stayed overnight in the house of my aunt Maymūnah. When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) stood to perform Prayer at night, I joined him and stood on his left. He then took me by the head and made me stand on his right.

The Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) perceived a tendency among his Companions to stand in the back rows, and he said to them: "Come forward and be close to me and let those who come after you, follow your lead. If people continue to fall behind, Allah puts them behind."

Abu Mas‘ūd al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The one who is the most versed in Allah's Book should lead the people in prayer. If they are equally versed in reciting it, then the one who is the most knowledgeable about the Sunnah; and if they are equal regarding the Sunnah, then the earliest one to emigrate; if they emigrated at the same time, then the earliest one to embrace Islam. No man must lead another in prayer where the latter has authority, or sit in his place in his house without his permission.”

Abu Mas‘ūd al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man said: "O Messenger of Allah, I would almost fail to attend the prayer because so-and-so prolongs it when he leads us." I never saw the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) more angry in giving admonition than he was on that day. He said: "O people, you cause aversion to others. Whoever leads people in prayer should make it brief, for among them are the sick, the weak, and those with needs to be fulfilled."

Abu Qatādah and Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, I would stand up for (congregational) prayer intending to prolong it, but I hear the crying of an infant, so I shorten my prayer lest I make it burdensome for his mother."

Abu Qatādah and Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, I would stand up for (congregational) prayer intending to prolong it, but I hear the crying of an infant, so I shorten my prayer lest I make it burdensome for his mother."

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Straighten your rows, for indeed, straightening the row is from the perfection of the prayer."

An-Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Straighten your rows or Allah will cause dissension amongst you.'' In another narration: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to straighten our rows, as if he was straightening arrows, until he saw that we had learned it from him. One day he came out, stood for prayer and was about to say 'Allah Akbar' (to start the prayer) when he saw a man whose chest was bulging out from the row. So he said: 'Slaves of Allah, either you straighten your rows or Allah will cause dissension amongst you.'"

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of the men's rows is the first, and the worst is the last, and the best of the women's rows is the last, and the worst is the first."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of the men's rows is the first, and the worst is the last, and the best of the women's rows is the last, and the worst is the first."