Sayyiduna Fadala bin Ubaid (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) heard a man supplicating in prayer who had neither praised Allah nor sent blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O praying one, you have been hasty." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him (how to supplicate). And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) heard a man who sent blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O praying one, supplicate, your supplication will be accepted, and ask (from Allah), you will be given."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Fadala bin Ubaidullah رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم saw a man who was performing prayer. He neither praised and glorified Allah Almighty nor sent blessings upon the Noble Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and then he finished his prayer. So the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "This man has been hasty." Then he صلى الله عليه وسلم called him and said to him and to others: "When any one of you performs prayer, he should begin by glorifying and praising Allah Almighty and sending blessings upon the Noble Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, then he may supplicate for whatever he wishes."

And the evidence that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was only asked: "We have learned how to greet you with peace, but how should we send prayers upon you in the tashahhud?"

Sayyiduna Abu Mas’ud Uqbah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a man came and sat in front of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while we were also present in his service. He said,“O Messenger of Allah, we have learned how to send salam upon you, but when we wish to send salat (blessings) upon you in our prayer, how should we do so? May Allah send mercy upon you.”He says that (upon this question) the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent for a while until we wished that (perhaps) this person had not asked you. Then the Prophet said:“When you wish to send salat upon me, then say «‏‏‏‏اللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلىٰ مُحَمَّدِ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ وَعَلىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدِ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، وَعَلى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَبَارِكْ عَلىٰ مُحَمَّدِ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ وَعَلىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدِ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلىٰ آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ» ‏‏‏‏ (O Allah, send mercy upon Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and upon the family of Muhammad, just as You sent mercy upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim. And send blessings upon Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and upon the family of Muhammad, just as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim. Surely, You are Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious).”

Hazrat Ali bin Abdur Rahman Ansari narrates that I prayed next to Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), and I turned over some pebbles. He said, "Do not move the pebbles, rather do as I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) do." I asked, "How did you see the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) do it?" He said, "Like this," and he placed his left hand on his left thigh and his right hand on his right thigh and raised his index finger (and pointed with it). This is the narration of Yahya bin Hakim. The wording of the narration of Makhzumi is: "He placed his right hand on his right thigh and joined the fingers together and made a circle with the middle finger and pointed with the finger next to the thumb (the index finger of testimony), and placed his left hand on his thigh."

Sayyiduna Wa'il bin Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the words of Ibn Fudayl's narration are: I was among those people who presented themselves in the noble service of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So I said (in my heart) that I will definitely observe the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) attentively to see how you perform the prayer. (Therefore, I watched you) Then when you sat down, you spread your left foot, then placed your left hand on your left thigh, then placed the edge of your right elbow on your right thigh, then joined two fingers together and made a circle, and while pointing with the finger used for tasbih, you began to supplicate. Ibn Khushram (in his narration) said that you made a circle with your middle finger and thumb, and raised your middle finger, that is, the index finger, and began to supplicate.

Sayyiduna Wa'il bin Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him) says that I said (in my heart) that I will definitely observe the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) carefully to see how he performs the prayer. So I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performing the prayer, and when he started the prayer, he said «‏‏‏‏اللهُ أَكْبَرُ» ‏‏‏‏, then narrated a part of the hadith. And he said that then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sat down, and he spread his left foot and placed his left hand on his left thigh and left knee, and placed the edge of his right elbow on his right thigh, then joined two fingers together and made a circle, then raised his finger, so I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) moving it and supplicating with it. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that in no other narration are these words mentioned except in this narration, that "he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was moving it." These words are mentioned as an addition.

Sayyiduna Malik Khuza'i narrates from his respected father that he said: I saw the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in prayer, placing his right hand on his right thigh, while he (peace be upon him) was pointing with his (index) finger.

Hazrat Malik bin Numeir Khuzai Basri narrates from his noble father that he related this hadith to him: He saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sitting in prayer, and he (peace be upon him) had placed his right arm on his thigh and had raised his index finger, bending it slightly, and he (peace be upon him) was supplicating.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that when the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would sit in prayer, he would place both his hands on his knees, and he would raise the finger next to the right thumb and supplicate, while his left hand would be on his left knee, and he would spread it open upon it.