Sayyiduna Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "What do you think, if there were a river flowing at the door of one of you and he bathed in it five times a day, what would you say about that? Would any dirt remain on him?" The people replied: "No dirt would remain on him at all." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is the example of the five prayers through which Allah wipes away sins."

Sayyiduna Wathilah bin Asqa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man came to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said,“O Messenger of Allah! I have committed an offense liable to a prescribed punishment, so establish the punishment upon me.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned away from him. Then the prayer was established. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the prayer with salam, the man said,“O Messenger of Allah! I have committed an offense liable to a prescribed punishment, so establish it upon me.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked,“When you came, had you performed ablution?”He replied,“Yes.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked,“Did you pray with us?”He said,“Yes.”

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man came to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: I caught hold of a woman in a garden and did everything with her except intercourse. Now do with me as you wish. (The narrator states) The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say anything to him. You called him and recited before him:“Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at some parts of the night. Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds.”(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The Arabs sometimes mention a thing whose name consists of several parts and branches. Then the Arabs mention one of those parts by the name of the whole thing. All types of prohibited acts are forbidden for the servants. And the word“disobedience”applies to all of them. Among them is adultery, which makes the prescribed punishment obligatory upon its perpetrator. There are some causes that lead to it, so here the application of one cause is made to the whole act, and that cause is kissing and touching, not intercourse.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man came to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned that he had kissed a woman. That man wanted to know the expiation for this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So Allah Almighty revealed this verse: "Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at some parts of the night. Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds. This is a reminder for those who take heed." The narrator states: That man asked, "Is this command only for me?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is for every person of my Ummah who acts upon it."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man said,“O Messenger of Allah! I met a woman in a garden, I embraced her, I kissed her, I did everything with her except intercourse.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent. Then Allah the Exalted revealed this verse:“Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at some hours of the night. Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.”The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called the man and recited this verse to him. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said,“O Messenger of Allah! Is this ruling specific to him?”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“(No), rather it is for all people.”

Abu Rafi’ narrates: He said to Sayyiduna ‘Ubada bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him): O Abu Walid! There was a man from the Ansar named Abu Muhammad, who was a companion, and he holds the opinion that Witr is obligatory. Sayyiduna ‘Ubada bin Samit said: Abu Muhammad has said this incorrectly; I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: Whoever performs the five prayers and completes them, not neglecting any of their due rights, then for such a person there is a covenant with Allah that He will not punish him. And whoever performs them but neglects something from their due rights, then for such a person there is no covenant with Allah. If He wills, He will have mercy on him, and if He wills, He will punish him. (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says: The narrator named Abu Muhammad is Mas’ud bin Zayd bin Sabi’ al-Ansari, he belonged to Banu Dinar bin Najjar, he was a companion, and he resided in Syria.)

Ibn Muhairiz narrates: A man came to Sayyiduna Ubadah bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) and said, "O Abu Walid! I heard Sayyiduna Abu Muhammad Ansari saying that Witr is obligatory." Sayyiduna Ubadah said, "Abu Muhammad has said wrong." I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying: "There are five prayers which Allah has made obligatory upon His servants. Whoever performs them and completes them, and does not diminish anything from their due rights out of considering them insignificant, then for him there is a covenant with Allah that He will admit him to Paradise. And whoever performs them but diminishes something from their due rights out of considering them insignificant, then for such a person there is no covenant with Allah. If He wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will have mercy on him." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says: The saying of Sayyiduna Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), "Abu Muhammad has lied," means he has said wrong. Similarly, it was the custom of Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that when someone said something wrong, it was said about him, "He has lied." Allah Almighty has protected the companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from anything objectionable. The statement of Allah Almighty is: "On that day Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believe with him, their light..." So when Allah has informed that He will not disgrace them on the Day of Judgment, then they are more deserving that no criticism be made upon them. The person who questioned Sayyiduna Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) was Abu Rafi’ Makhadji.

Sayyiduna Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): "The five prayers and one Friday to the next Friday become expiation for the sins committed in between, as long as major sins are not committed."

It is narrated about Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. He saw a man performing prayer. The man performed a lengthy prayer and prolonged it greatly. Sayyiduna Abdullah inquired, "Who knows this person?" So a man replied, "I do." Sayyiduna Abdullah said, "If I had known him, I would have guided him to prolong his bowing (ruku) and prostration (sajdah), because I heard the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, say: 'When a servant stands to perform prayer, his sins are brought and placed upon his head or his shoulders, and when he bows or prostrates, they fall away from him.'"

Ma’dan bin Talhah Yamari reports: I met Sayyiduna Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him), who was a freed slave of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). I said to him: Narrate to me a hadith so that Allah may benefit me through it. He said: Prostration (sujood) is obligatory upon you, for I heard the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) say:“Whenever a person performs a prostration for the sake of Allah, Allah raises him one degree because of it and removes one sin from him because of it.”Ma’dan reports: Then I met Sayyiduna Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked him the same question. He gave a similar answer.