Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Shall I not narrate to you the hadith which I myself heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? They said: Why not. He said: I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: Whoever performs prayer and doubts that it is deficient, he should continue praying until he begins to doubt that it is excessive.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever has doubt in his prayer should perform two prostrations while sitting. In another narration: He should perform two prostrations after saying the salam.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is not permissible to cause deficiency in the (acts of) prayer, nor is it permissible to say salam (greeting of peace) in the prayer.

Sufyan Thawri says: My father asked Abu Amr Shaybani about the saying of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him: "There is no deficiency in prayer." He said: This narration is as follows: "There is no deficiency in prayer." And the meaning of "no deficiency" is that a person should not leave the prayer in such a state that he even suspects that some part of his prayer remains; (he should leave) when he is certain that it is complete.

Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) performed two rak‘ahs of prayer. Abdur Rahman bin Harith said to him: O Abu al-Yaqzan! I think you have shortened them. He replied: Have I omitted anything from its prescribed limits and conditions? He said: No, but you have shortened them. He said: (The real matter is that) I performed them quickly before I became forgetful, because I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Indeed, a man performs prayer, but it may be that nothing of his prayer is recorded for him except a tenth part, or a ninth part, or an eighth part, or a seventh part, ... until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reached the last number.

(Second chain) Ibn Las Khuza'i says: Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the mosque and performed two rak'ahs of prayer; they were very light, but also complete. Then he sat down, and we stood up and sat near him. We said: Abu al-Yaqzan! You performed those two rak'ahs lightly? He said: Yes, I performed them before Satan could enter within me. Then he mentioned a similar hadith.

Sayyiduna Uthman bin Abi al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! Satan has come between me and my prayer and my recitation. You said: This is Satan, he is called Khanzab. When you feel him, seek refuge with Allah from him and spit three times to your left. He said: So I did this, and Allah Almighty removed this whispering from me.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led one of the two afternoon prayers (Dhuhr or Asr). Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) had mentioned which prayer it was, but Ibn Sirin forgot it. In any case, after two rak‘ahs, he said salam and came to a piece of wood lying in the mosque. In another narration: Then he came to a trunk lying in the direction of the qiblah, which he used to lean his back against. So he leaned his back against it and placed his hand on it, as if he was angry. Meanwhile, people in haste began to leave through the doors of the mosque, saying: The prayer has been shortened. Among the people were Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), but they were hesitant to speak to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Among the people was a man whose hands were a bit long, and for this reason he was called Dhu’l-Yadayn. He said: O Messenger of Allah! Have you forgotten, or has the prayer been shortened? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I have neither forgotten nor has the prayer been shortened. He said: Certainly, you have performed only two rak‘ahs. The Prophet asked: (Is it) as Dhu’l-Yadayn is saying? The people said: Yes. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came forward and performed the remaining rak‘ahs of the prayer, then said salam, then said Allahu Akbar and performed a prostration like the usual prostrations or even longer, then raised his head and said Allahu Akbar, then performed a prostration like the usual prostrations or longer, then raised his head and said Allahu Akbar. Ibn ‘Awn says: When Muhammad ibn Sirin was asked whether salam was said (after the prostrations), he said: I was informed from Sayyiduna ‘Imran ibn Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did say salam.

(Third chain) It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, he says: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, led the Zuhr or Asr prayer and after two rak‘ahs, he ended the prayer with salam. Sayyiduna Dhul-Yadayn bin ‘Abd ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, who was an ally of Banu Zuhrah, said to him: Has the prayer been shortened or did you forget? The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: What is Dhul-Yadayn saying? The people said: O Messenger of Allah! He has spoken the truth. Then he, along with them, completed the two rak‘ahs that were left.

(4th Chain) The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) offered two rak'ahs of Zuhr prayer and concluded with salam. The people said: Has the prayer been shortened? Upon hearing this, he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) stood up, performed two more rak'ahs, then concluded with salam, and afterwards performed two prostrations.