It is narrated from Sayyiduna Mutlib bin Abi Wada'ah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The prayer is in sets of two rak‘ahs. After every two rak‘ahs, there is tashahhud. (Before Allah) express your poverty and neediness, and raise your hands with humility and say «‏‏‏‏اللَّهُمَّ» ‏‏‏‏, «‏‏‏‏اللَّهُمَّ» ‏‏‏‏ O my Lord, O my Lord (i.e., make supplication). Whoever does not do these things, his prayer is incomplete."

Hazrat Laith bin Sa’d has opposed Imam Shu’bah in the chain of this hadith. Thus, Laith has narrated this hadith from the chain of Abdur-Rabbah from Sayyiduna Fadl bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) as a marfu’ narration, whereas Imam Shu’bah has narrated it from the chain of Abdur-Rabbah from Mutlib bin Abi Wada’ah. Therefore, if this hadith is established, then its words are: the prayer is two rak’ahs. These words are similar to the marfu’ narration of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both):“The prayer of the night and day is in sets of two rak’ahs.”And in this hadith, there is further explanation and clarification: it mentions raising the hands while supplicating and saying“Allahumma, Allahumma.”And in Laith’s narration, it is stated:“Raise both your hands towards your Lord and turn their palms towards your face and say: O my Lord, O my Lord.”Also, raising the hands before the salam in tashahhud is not a sunnah of prayer. And this is evidence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed the worshipper to raise the hands, supplicate, and ask from the Lord after saying salam from two rak’ahs. As for the hadith from which some people have taken evidence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered four rak’ahs before Zuhr with a single salam, it is narrated with such a (weak and feeble) chain that no scholar who is knowledgeable in the science of hadith takes evidence from such a narration.

Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace be upon him) said: "Four rak‘ahs before Zuhr, if the one praying does not say salam in between them, the gates of the heavens are opened for them." These are the words of the hadith of Shubah. Whereas Muhammad bin Yazid has narrated a much longer hadith and has mentioned many things in it (ahead, the Imam has mentioned his chain of narration), and ‘Ubaidah bin Mu‘atib (may Allah have mercy on him) is not counted among those narrators whose narrations are relied upon by the scholars of hadith. And I heard Abu Musa saying that I have never heard Imam Yahya bin Sa‘id and Imam ‘Abdur Rahman bin Mahdi (may Allah have mercy on them) narrate anything from Sufyan from ‘Ubaidah bin Mu‘atib. And I heard Abu Qilabah narrating from Hilal bin Yahya, who said: I heard Yusuf bin Khalid Samti saying: I asked ‘Ubaidah bin Mu‘atib, the narrations you narrate from Ibrahim, have you heard all of them from him? He replied: Some of them I have heard from him, and some are such that I have deduced by analogy. Yusuf said: I said, then narrate to me only those ahadith which you have heard, because I know more about analogy than you. And a similar narration has been narrated by A‘mash from Musayyib bin Rafi‘ from Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but in it these words are not present: "if he does not say salam in between them."

Imam Sahib has narrated the complete chain of Imam A‘mash. Imam Abu Bakr, may Allah have mercy on him, says that (the narrator in this chain) ‘Ali bin Salat is unknown to me, and I do not know which land of Allah he belongs to. And it has occurred to me whether he met Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub, may Allah be pleased with him, or not? To my knowledge, only an opponent (stubborn, obstinate) or an ignorant person can use such (weak and unreliable) chains of narration as evidence.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him): "O Abbas, O my uncle, shall I not give you a gift, shall I not present you with a gift and reward? Shall I not tell you ten things, which if you do, Allah the Exalted will forgive all your past and future, old and new, mistakes made unintentionally and those done deliberately, small and large, hidden and open sins. These ten things are: You should perform four rak‘ahs in such a way that in every rak‘ah, after Surah Al-Fatihah, you recite another surah as well. Then, when you finish the recitation in the first rak‘ah, while standing, recite these words fifteen times: «‏‏‏‏سُبْحَانَ اللهِ، وَالحَمْدُ لِلَٰهِ، وَلَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، وَاللَٰهُ أَكْبَرُ» ‏‏‏‏ 'Allah is Pure, and all praise is for Allah, and there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and Allah is the Greatest.' Then bow into ruku‘ and in the state of ruku‘ recite these words ten times. Then, after rising from ruku‘, recite these words ten times. Then, when you go into sajdah, recite these words ten times. Then, after raising your head from sajdah, recite these words ten times. Then, when you go into sajdah again, recite these words ten times. Then, after raising your head from sajdah, recite these words ten times. In this way, in every rak‘ah, these words will be recited seventy-five times. Perform this in all four rak‘ahs. If you are able, perform this prayer once every day. If you cannot do it every day, then perform it once a week. If you cannot do even that, then perform it once a month. If you cannot do even that, then perform it once a year. If you cannot do even that, then perform it once in your lifetime." Ibrahim bin Hakam bin Aban narrated this mursal (disconnected) from ‘Ikrimah with the chain from his father, and in it the name of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) is not mentioned. This narration was related to us by Muhammad bin Rafi‘ from Ibrahim bin Hakam.

Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned one day from ‘Alya until, when he passed by the mosque of Banu Mu’awiyah, he entered it and performed two rak’ahs of prayer, and we also prayed with him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) made a long supplication to his Lord, then he turned towards us and said:“I asked my Lord for three things, so He granted me two of my supplications and did not grant one. I asked my Lord that my Ummah not be destroyed by famine, so Allah accepted this supplication. And I asked that my Ummah not be destroyed by drowning, so He also accepted this. And I asked Him that there not be fighting among them, but this supplication was not granted.”

Sayyiduna Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out, so I also went out searching for him. Whenever I passed by someone, I would ask him about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he would reply that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had just passed by a little while ago. Until I passed by a place and found him (peace and blessings be upon him) praying. I waited for him (peace and blessings be upon him) until he completed his prayer, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed a long prayer. I said,“(O Messenger of Allah,) I saw you performing a very long prayer; I have never seen you pray like this before.”He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Indeed, I performed a prayer of hope and fear. I asked Allah, the Exalted, for three things; He granted me two of my supplications and did not grant one. I asked Him not to destroy my Ummah by drowning, so He granted me this supplication. And I asked Him not to impose their enemy over them, so He granted me this supplication as well. And I asked Him that there not be fighting among themselves, but He rejected this supplication.”

Sayyiduna Uthman bin Hunaif (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a blind man came to the service of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said,“O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah that He grants me well-being and safety.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“If you wish, I will delay the supplication (and you be patient), and that is much better for you. And if you wish, I will supplicate for you.”In the narration of Abu Musa, it is mentioned that the man said,“Please supplicate for me.”In the narration of Abu Musa and Muhammad bin Bashar, it is mentioned that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered him to perform ablution. In the narration of Bundar, it is mentioned,“He ordered him to perform ablution well.”Then both narrators said,“And after performing two units of prayer, supplicate with this supplication: «‏‏‏‏اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ وَأَتَوَجَّهُ إِلَيْكَ بِنَبِيِّكَ مُحَمَّدٍ نَبِيِّ الرَّحْمَةِ إِنِّي تَوَجَّهْتُ بِكَ إِلَى رَبِّي فِي حَاجَتِي هَذِهِ لِتُقْضَى لِي اللَّهُمَّ فَشَفِّعْهُ فِيَّ» ‏‏‏‏ ‘O Allah, I ask You and turn to You through Your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy. O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), I have turned to my Lord through you regarding this need of mine, so that it may be fulfilled. O Allah, accept his intercession for me.’”In the narration of Abu Musa, there is an addition:“And He accepted my intercession regarding it.”He says that later there was some doubt about these words: ‘وَشَفَّعَنِي فِيهِ’ (and accept my intercession regarding it), (so they would not narrate it later).

Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Keep the proposal hidden, then perform ablution properly, then pray as much as Allah has written for you, then praise and glorify your Lord, then make this supplication, «‏‏‏‏اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلاَ أَقْدِرُ وَتَعْلَمُ وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ فَإِنْ رَأَيْتَ لِي فِي فُلَانَةٍ (تُسَمَّيْهَا بِاِسْمِهَا) خَيْراً لِيْ فِيْ دِيْنِي وَدُنْيَايَ وَاٰخِرَتِى فَاقْدُرْهَا لِي، وَإِنْ كَانَ غَيْرُهَا خَيْراً لِيْ مِنْهَا فِيْ دِيْنِي وَدُنْيَايَ وَاٰخِرَتِى فَاقْضِ لِيْ بِهَا» ‏‏‏‏: O Allah, indeed You are Able and I am not able, You know and I do not know, You are the Knower of the unseen. So if You know that such-and-such woman (mention her name) is better for me in my religion, my worldly life, and my Hereafter, then decree her for me, and if any other woman is better for me in my religion, my worldly life, and my Hereafter, then decide that for me, or he said: "then decree her for me."