Sayyiduna Abbas bin Sahal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: He was present in a gathering where his father was also present, who was a companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). In that gathering, Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Abu Usaid (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Abu Humayd Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him) were present, who belonged to the Ansar. These individuals mentioned the prayer, so Sayyiduna Abu Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I have the most knowledge among you about the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The people said: Then show us. The narrator says that then he stood up to perform the prayer. The others were watching. He said the takbir at the beginning. He raised both hands up to the shoulders, then he said the takbir to go into ruku’. Then he performed raf’ al-yadayn. Then he placed both hands on his knees. He did not lower his head completely nor raise it up. Then he raised his head and recited «سمع اللہ لمن حمدہ» . Then he performed raf’ al-yadayn. Saying «اللہ اکبر» , he went into prostration. He placed both his palms, both knees, and the edges of both feet on the ground while in the state of prostration. Then he said the takbir and sat down. He spread one leg as tawarruk and kept the other foot upright. Then, saying the takbir, he performed the second prostration, said the takbir, and stood up, but he did not do tawarruk. Then he did the same and performed the second rak’ah. In this way, he said the takbir and after performing two rak’ahs, he sat down. Then, when he intended to stand up, he said the takbir. Then he performed the last two rak’ahs in the same way. Then, when he finished with salam, he first turned to the right and said:“As-salamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah,”and turning to the left, he said:“As-salamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah.”Hasan bin Harnami, the narrator, has reported this. ‘Isa, the narrator, narrated this hadith to me. In this hadith, regarding the tashahhud, these words are also present: He placed his left hand on his left thigh and his right hand on his right thigh, and then he pointed with one finger. Imam Abu Hatim (may Allah have mercy on him) states: Muhammad bin ‘Amr heard this narration from Sayyiduna Abu Humayd Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him). He also heard this narration from Abbas bin Sahal from his father. Both their chains are preserved.

Muhammad bin Amr narrates: I heard Sayyiduna Abu Humayd Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him) say, in the presence of ten companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), among whom was Abu Qatadah as well. Sayyiduna Abu Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I have more knowledge about the prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him). They asked: How is that? By Allah! You are neither a greater follower of the Prophet (peace be upon him) than us nor an older companion. Sayyiduna Abu Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Yes, indeed. The other companions said: Then present it. So Sayyiduna Abu Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When the Prophet (peace be upon him) would stand for prayer, he would say the takbir, then raise both hands up to the shoulders. Then he would stand in such a way that every bone would be in its place, then he would recite (Qur’an). Then he would raise both hands until he brought them up to the level of the shoulders. Then he would go into ruku’ and place both palms on both knees. He would remain in a balanced state, neither raising nor lowering his head. Then, while saying «سمع اللہ لمن حمدہ» , he would raise his hands until he brought them up to the level of the shoulders (and would stand in such a way that) every bone would return to its place. Then he would go towards the ground. He would keep both arms away from his sides, then he would raise his head and spread one leg and sit on it. When he would go into prostration, he would keep the toes of his feet spread. Then he would prostrate. Then he would say the takbir and sit on his left leg until every bone returned to its specific place. Then he would stand and do the same in the second rak’ah. Then, when he would stand after performing two rak’ahs, he would raise both hands up to the shoulders, just as he did at the beginning of the prayer. Then he would perform the rest of the prayer in the same way, until when he had prostrated and it was time to say salam, he would take out both feet and sit in tawarruk on his left side. So the other companions said: You have spoken the truth; the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray in this manner. Imam Abu Hatim (may Allah have mercy on him) states: In four rak’ahs, there are six hundred things that are Sunnah, which have been transmitted from the Prophet (peace be upon him). We have mentioned them along with their sections in the book“The Method of Prayer.”Now, through this type of arrangement in this book, I have made that book unnecessary. Imam Abu Hatim (may Allah have mercy on him) says: The narrator named Abdul Hamid is among the trustworthy and precise narrators. I have investigated his circumstances; I have not seen that he is alone in transmitting any rejected narration in which he has no partner. Faleeh bin Sulaiman and Isa bin Abdullah, regarding Muhammad bin Amr, agree with Abdul Hamid in transmitting this narration from Sayyiduna Abu Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him).

Salim narrates from his father: When he would start the prayer, he would raise his hands. When he would go into bowing (ruku‘), he would raise his hands. When he would say «سمع اللہ لمن حمدہ» (that is, when he would stand up from bowing), he would raise his hands. When he would stand up after two rak‘ahs, he would also raise both hands up to the shoulders.

Muhammad bin Amr narrates: He was sitting with the companions, when Sayyiduna Abu Humayd Sa’idi said: I remember the prayer of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) better than all of you. I saw the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) when he said the takbeer, he would raise both hands up to the shoulders. When he went into ruku’, he would place both hands on his knees. He would keep his back straight. When he raised his head, he would stand up straight, and when he went into prostration, he would neither spread his arms nor keep them raised. He would direct both his feet towards the qiblah. When he sat in the last rak’ah, he would take out his left leg and sit on his buttocks.

Muhammad bin Amr narrates: I heard Sayyiduna Abu Humayd Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him) saying that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand to perform prayer, he would face the Qiblah and raise both his hands until he brought them up to the level of his shoulders, then he would say Allahu Akbar. When he would go into bowing (ruku’), he would say the takbir, and when he would go into bowing, he would raise his hands, then he would straighten his back. He would neither raise nor lower his head, then he would say «سَمِعَ اللهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ» and raise both hands, bringing them up to the level of his shoulders, then he would stand straight until every bone returned to its proper place in a state of balance. Then he would bend towards the ground and say Allahu Akbar, and when he would go into prostration (sajdah), he would keep his arms away from his sides and direct the tips of his toes towards the Qiblah. Then he would raise his head and say Allahu Akbar. He would spread his left leg and sit upon it until every bone returned to its proper place in a state of balance, then he would say Allahu Akbar and go into prostration again, then he would raise his head and say Allahu Akbar, then spread his left leg and sit upon it until every bone returned to its proper place, then he would stand up and do the same in the second (rak’ah), until when he stood up after performing two rak’ahs, after saying the takbir, he would do as he did at the beginning of the prayer (i.e., raise his hands), until when the prostration came upon which the prayer was to end (i.e., the last prostration), after the two prostrations he would raise his head and move his leg back and sit in the tawarruk position on his leg.

Abbas bin Sahl Sa’idi narrates: Once, Sayyiduna Abu Humayd Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Abu Usaid Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa’d Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him) gathered together. These noble companions discussed the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so Sayyiduna Abu Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Regarding the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), I have more knowledge than all of you (then he described): When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand, he would say the takbeer while raising his hands. When he would say the takbeer to go into ruku’, he would then raise his hands, then he would go into ruku’ and place both his hands on his knees as if holding them. He would keep both his arms straight and separate them from his sides. He would neither raise his head nor lower it. Then he would stand up and raise his hands until he stood straight, and every part of his body would return to its proper place. Then he would go into sujood and firmly place his nose and forehead on the ground. He would keep both his arms away from his sides. He would place both his palms in line with his shoulders, then he would raise his head until every part of his body returned to its proper place. When he finished (performing the units of prayer), he would sit down, spreading his left leg. He would turn the toes of his right foot towards the qiblah. He would place his right palm on his right knee and his left palm on his left knee and would point with his index finger.

Sayyiduna Malik bin Huwairith (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: We came to the service of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him); we were young men of similar age. We stayed with him for twenty days. When he realized that we were facing difficulty being away from our families, he asked us what we had left behind for our families. We informed him about this. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was very kind and soft-hearted. He said: "Return to your families, teach them, command them, and pray as you have seen me praying. When the time for prayer comes, let one of you give the adhan, and the eldest among you should lead the prayer."

Abu Qilabah narrates: He saw Sayyiduna Malik bin Huwairith (may Allah be pleased with him), when he performed the prayer, he said the takbeer and raised his hands. When he intended to go into ruku, he raised his hands. When he raised his head from ruku, he raised his hands. He stated this, and the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do likewise.

Aswad narrates: I and Alqamah went to the service of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him). He asked us: Have those people performed the prayer? We replied: No. So he said: You both stand and perform the prayer. We stood up to pray behind him. He placed one of us on his right side and the other on his left side. Then he performed the prayer without giving the adhan or the iqamah. During the prayer, when he went into ruku', he interlaced his fingers and placed them between his two knees. When he had completed the prayer, he mentioned this matter. He said: I have seen the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) perform the prayer in this manner. He said: "O people! Soon there will be rulers appointed over you who will neglect the prayer; they will strangle it as a dying person is strangled. Whoever among you finds this situation, let him perform the prayer at its appointed time, and make his prayer with those people a voluntary one." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to interlace his fingers during ruku', and he held the opinion that he had seen the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do so. However, from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until our present day, all Muslims are agreed that this act was in the early days of Islam, and then the command to place both hands on the knees during ruku' abrogated it. So, how could such a thing remain hidden from a person of the stature of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), with all his knowledge, virtue, asceticism, piety, his abundant practice of religious rulings, and his praying in the first row behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as he was among the wise and experienced? Despite all this, how could something that is abrogated by the consensus of all Muslims remain hidden from him? Or perhaps he saw it and then forgot it. So it is also possible that, just as interlacing the fingers during ruku' was hidden from him, the act of raising the hands at the time of ruku' and when rising from ruku' by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was also hidden from him, or he saw it and then forgot it.

Aswad reports: I and Alqamah went to the service of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), so he said to us, "You people get up and perform the prayer." We got up and began to stand behind him, so he placed one of us on his right side and the other on his left side. He led us in prayer without giving the adhan or the iqamah. When he went into ruku', he interlaced his fingers and placed them between both his knees. When he had completed the prayer, he stated this matter: "I saw the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) doing it in this way."