And the evidence for the ignorance of those among the Murji’ah who claim that it is not permissible for the one who sneezes to reply to the one who says“may Allah have mercy on you”by saying:“May Allah guide you and rectify your condition,”is that the chosen Prophet, whom Allah honored with prophethood, asked Allah for guidance regarding what was differed upon of the truth, while they claim that it is not permissible for a Muslim to ask for guidance.

Hazrat Abu Salamah bin Abdur Rahman bin Auf (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that I asked Ummul Momineen Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand for the night prayer, with which supplication would he begin his prayer?" She replied, "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand for the night prayer, he would begin his prayer with this supplication: «‏‏‏‏اللّهُـمَّ رَبَّ جِـبْرائيل، وَميكـائيل، وَإِسْـرافيل، فاطِـرَ السَّمواتِ وَالأَرْض، عالـِمَ الغَيْـبِ وَالشَّهـادَةِ أَنْـتَ تَحْـكمُ بَيْـنَ عِبـادِكَ فيـما كانوا فيهِ يَخْتَلِفـون. إِهدِنـي لِمـا اخْتُـلِفَ فيـهِ مِنَ الْحَـقِّ بِإِذْنِك، إِنَّـكَ تَهْـدي مَنْ تَشـاءُ إِلى صِراطٍ مُسْتَقـيم» ‏‏‏‏ . O Allah, Lord of Jibreel, Mikaeel, and Israfeel, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, You judge between Your servants concerning that wherein they differ. Guide me, by Your permission, in the disputed matters of truth, for surely You guide whom You will to the straight path."

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that one night I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he stood for a long time (and recited at length) until I intended to do a bad deed. He was asked, "What did you intend?" He replied, "I intended to sit down and leave the company of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)."

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that it was asked from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "Which prayer is the most virtuous and superior?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "The one with long and lengthy standing (qiyam)."

Hazrat Alqamah narrates that a man came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) while he knew him, so he said,“O Commander of the Faithful, I have come from Kufa and I have left behind in Kufa a man who dictates the Qur’an from memory.”At this, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) became extremely angry and was greatly enraged, to the extent that it seemed as if both sides of the saddle would overflow with anger (he became extremely furious). He said,“Woe to you, who is he?”He replied,“He is Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him).”Then your anger gradually began to subside and your rage cooled down until you became calm as before. Then you said,“Good for you, I do not know of anyone who has more right to do this work than him. And I will tell you about this. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to consult with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) every night at his house regarding the affairs of the Muslims. One night, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was present at his house for discussion, and I was also with them. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out, and (when) he set out to leave, we also came out with him. Suddenly, we saw a man standing in the mosque, performing prayer. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood and began to listen to his recitation. We were about to recognize this man when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Whoever wishes to recite the Qur’an fresh as it was revealed, let him recite according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd.’ Then that man sat down and began to supplicate, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Ask, you will be given.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said this twice. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says, ‘I said (in my heart), By Allah, I will surely go to him in the morning and give him glad tidings.’ So in the morning I went to him to give him the glad tidings, but I saw that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) had already reached him before me and given him the glad tidings. By Allah, in whatever good deed I competed with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), he always preceded me.”

This is the narration of Abu Musa, but he did not mention the words,“and your veins swelled.”The words of Salm bin Junadah are:“Then gradually his anger began to subside.”And he said that you were standing in the plain of Arafat. And he did not mention the words,“continuously (the Prophet consulted at night),”and instead of“yasmu‘u qira’atahu”(he heard his recitation), he said“yastami‘u qira’atahu”(he listened attentively to his recitation). And Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said,“Wa Allahi la’aghduwanna ilayhi”(By Allah, I will surely go to him).

Kuraib, the freed slave of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), narrates that I asked Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), "How was the night prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" He replied, "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite (Qur'an) in prayer in any of his blessed chambers, people outside the chamber would hear it."

It is narrated from Ya'la bin Mamlak that he asked Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) about the recitation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and about his prayer. She replied, "What comparison do you have with the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? (It was indeed very great and exalted.) He (peace and blessings be upon him) would perform the Tahajjud prayer, then sleep for a duration equal to the length of the prayer, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray for a duration equal to the time he slept, then sleep for a duration equal to the length of the prayer, until morning came. And she described the manner of the Messenger of Allah’s (peace and blessings be upon him) recitation for this, so she described his recitation as being distinct, letter by letter."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that when he performed the Tahajjud prayer, he would sometimes raise his voice. And he stated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do the same.

Abdullah bin Abi Qais reports that he asked Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about the manner of recitation in the Tahajjud prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): did he recite aloud or quietly? She replied that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite in both ways; sometimes he would recite aloud and sometimes quietly. Bahr bin Nasr, in his narration, added these words: So I said, all praise is due to Allah who has kept flexibility and allowance in this matter.

And the recommendation to avoid raising the voice excessively in it, and to recite it quietly, and to seek a manner between loudness and quietness. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said:“And do not recite your prayer too loudly, nor too quietly, but seek a way between that.”(Al-Isra: 110). And this verse is of the kind which I have informed that the name of a thing may apply to some of its parts, as Allah, Glorified and Exalted, has applied the name of prayer to the recitation within it, and the recitation in prayer is a part of it, not the whole of it. I have mentioned this so that it may be known that the name of faith may apply to some of its branches.