It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw phlegm in the direction of the qiblah in the mosque. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and scraped it off with his own hand. Then he turned towards the people, expressed anger at them, and said: Indeed, Allah Almighty is before your face in prayer, so no person should spit in front of his face during prayer.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When any one of you is in prayer, he is whispering to his Lord, so none of you should spit in front of him or to his right side; however, he may spit to his left side or beneath his feet.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw phlegm towards the direction of the Qiblah, so he (peace be upon him) scraped it off (according to one narration, Abu Hurairah says that I stood up and scraped it off). Then he (peace be upon him) said: Does any one of you like that when he is in prayer, phlegm or spit is thrown on his face? When any one of you is in prayer, he should never spit in front of him or to his right side, but rather he should spit to his left side under his foot. If he does not find (a place), then he should spit in his garment.

Ziyad bin Subaih Hanafi says: I was praying towards the House of Allah, and there was an elderly man on one side of me. I prolonged my prayer, so I placed my hand on my waist, but that sheikh struck my chest carelessly with his hand. I thought to myself: What suspicion does he have about me? Anyway, I quickly finished my prayer and saw that a boy was sitting behind him. I asked him: Who is this elder? He said: This is Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). So I remained seated until he finished his prayer. I said to him: O Abu Abdur Rahman! What did you think about me? He said: Are you the one? I said: Yes. He said: In prayer, this is like hanging on the cross; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to forbid this.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Making shortcuts in prayer has been prohibited. The narrator said: We asked Hisham, "What is making shortcuts?" He said: It is when a person prays with his hands placed on his waist. Yazid said: We asked Hisham whether he mentioned this from the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? He nodded his head in affirmation.