Category: Q n A

The Prophet (ﷺ) 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.”

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) reciting wa t-teeni wa z-zaitun” (95) in the `Isha’ prayer, and I never heard a
sweeter voice or a better way of recitation than that of the Prophet.

While the Muslims were offering the Fajr prayer, Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) suddenly appeared before them by
living the curtain of the dwelling place of `Aisha, looked towards the Muslims who were standing in
rows. He smiled with pleasure. Abu Bakr started retreating to join the row on the assumption that the
Prophet wanted to come out for the prayer. The Muslims intended to leave the prayer (and were on the
verge of being put to trial), but the Prophet (ﷺ) beckoned them to complete their prayer and then he let the
curtain fall. He died in the last hours of that day.

`Umar said to Sa`d, “The people complained against you in everything, even in prayer.” Sa`d replied,
“Really I used to prolong the first two rak`at and shorten the last two and I will never shorten the
prayer in which I follow Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ).” `Umar said, “You are telling the truth and that is what I
think a tout you.”

The People of Kufa complained against Sa`d to `Umar and the latter dismissed him and appointed
`Ammar as their chief . They lodged many complaints against Sa`d and even they alleged that he did
not pray properly. `Umar sent for him and said, “O Aba ‘Is-haq! These people claim that you do not
pray properly.” Abu ‘Is-haq said, “By Allah, I used to pray with them a prayer similar to that of Allah’s
Apostle and I never reduced anything of it. I used to prolong the first two rak`at of `Isha prayer and
shorten the last two rak`at.” `Umar said, “O Aba ‘Is-haq, this was what I thought about you.” And then
he sent one or more persons with him to Kufa so as to ask the people about him. So they went there
and did not leave any mosque without asking about him. All the people praised him till they came to
the mosque of the tribe of Bani `Abs; one of the men called Usama bin Qatada with a surname of Aba
Sa`da stood up and said, “As you have put us under an oath; I am bound to tell you that Sa`d never
went himself with the army and never distributed (the war booty) equally and never did justice in legal
verdicts.” (On hearing it) Sa`d said, “I pray to Allah for three things: O Allah! If this slave of yours is
a liar and got up for showing off, give him a long life, increase his poverty and put him to trials.” (And
so it happened). Later on when that person was asked how he was, he used to reply that he was an old
man in trial as the result of Sa`d’s curse. `Abdul Malik, the sub narrator, said that he had seen him
afterwards and his eyebrows were overhanging his eyes owing to old age and he used to tease and
assault the small girls in the way.

My father and I went to Abu Barza-al-Aslami to ask him about the stated times for the prayers. He
replied, “The Prophet (ﷺ) used to offer the Zuhr prayer when the sun just declined from its highest
position at noon; the `Asr at a time when if a man went to the farthest place in Medina (after praying)
he would find the sun still hot (bright). (The sub narrator said: I have forgotten what Abu Barza said
about the Maghrib prayer). The Prophet (ﷺ) never found any harm in delaying the `Isha’ prayer to the first
third of the night and he never liked to sleep before it and to talk after it. He used to offer the morning
prayer at a time when after finishing it one could recognize the person sitting beside him and used to
recite between 60 to 100 verses in one or both the rak`at.”

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Whoever does not recite Al-Fatiha in his prayer, his prayer is invalid.”

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) entered the mosque and a person followed him. The man prayed and went to the
Prophet and greeted him. The Prophet (ﷺ) returned the greeting and said to him, “Go back and pray, for
you have not prayed.” The man went back prayed in the same way as before, returned and greeted the
Prophet who said, “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” This happened thrice. The man said,
“By Him Who sent you with the Truth, I cannot offer the prayer in a better way than this. Please,
teach me how to pray.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “When you stand for Prayer say Takbir and then recite from
the Holy Qur’an (of what you know by heart) and then bow till you feel at ease. Then raise your head
and stand up straight, then prostrate till you feel at ease during your prostration, then sit with calmness
till you feel at ease (do not hurry) and do the same in all your prayers.

Sa`d said, “I used to pray with them a prayer similar to that of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) (the prayer of Zuhr and
`Asr) reducing nothing from them. I used to prolong the first two rak`at and shorten the last two
rak`at.” `Umar said to Sa`d “This was what we thought about you.”

My father said, “The Prophet (ﷺ) in Zuhr prayers used to recite Al-Fatiha along with two other Suras in
the first two rak`at: a long one in the first rak`a and a shorter (Sura) in the second, and at times the
verses were audible. In the `Asr prayer the Prophet (ﷺ) used to recite Al-Fatiha and two more Suras in the
first two rak`at and used to prolong the first rak`a. And he used to prolong the first rak`a of the Fajr
prayer and shorten the second.