It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: We performed the Maghrib prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), those who were to return went back and those who were to remain seated stayed. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came quickly, he was out of breath and had lifted his garment from his knees. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Rejoice! Your Lord has opened a door of the sky and, boasting about you before the angels, said: Look at My servants, they have performed one obligatory prayer and are sitting waiting for another."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Uthman bin Abu al-As (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave me this last instruction: "When you lead a people in prayer, then lighten the prayer."

Nafi' bin Sarjis says that I went to the Companion of the Messenger, Abu Waqqad Al-Laithi (may Allah be pleased with him), when he was suffering from the illness of death. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to lighten the prayer for the people more than anyone else, but his individual prayer was the longest of all.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite Surah Al-A'la «سبح اسم ربك الاعلى» and Surah Al-Ghashiyah «هل اتاك حديث الغاشية» in the Zuhr and Asr prayers.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that Sayyiduna Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) led his companions in the ‘Isha prayer and made the standing (qiyam) long. A man stepped back, prayed separately (and left). When Sayyiduna Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) was informed about this, he said: The one who does this could be a hypocrite. When that man learned of this, he went to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him that Mu’adh had said such things about him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Mu’adh:“Mu’adh! Do you want to become a cause of tribulation (fitnah)? When you lead the people in prayer, recite surahs like «و الشمس وضحاها» , «سبح اسم ربك الاعلى» , «و الليل إذا يغشى» , and «قرا باسم ربك» .”This is the hadith of Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him); the narrators who report from him have different wordings, comprising both lengthy and brief narrations. These are the words of Abu Zubair, which were narrated from him by Layth bin Sa’d.

Sayyiduna Uthman bin Abu al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appointed me as the governor of Ta’if, the last thing he said to me was:“Lead the people in a light prayer.”In fact, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself specified the recitation of «سبح اسم ربك الاعلى» (i.e., Surah Al-A'la) and «قرا باسم ربك» (i.e., Surah Al-'Alaq) and similar surahs.

Abu Abdullah Sanabahi says: Janadah bin Abu Umayyah began to gather people for congregation. When he stood for prayer, he turned to his right and asked: "Are you pleased (with me leading as your imam)?" They replied: "Yes." Then, in the same way, he asked the worshippers standing on his left. Then he said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: 'Whoever leads people in prayer while they dislike him (for a legitimate Islamic reason), then the prayer of that imam will not rise above his neck (i.e., it will not be accepted).'"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed a man to lead the people in the Zuhr prayer. While leading the prayer, he spat in the direction of the Qiblah. When the time for Asr prayer came, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent another man (to lead the prayer). The first man became afraid and came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! Has any command been revealed concerning me? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "No, (no command has been revealed, the matter is that) when you were leading the people in prayer, you spat in front of you and thus caused harm to Allah and the angels (this is the reason you were set aside)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), he states that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) turned towards us and said: "Straighten your rows and stand close together, for I see you from behind my back."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him), he says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) turned towards the people and said three times:“Straighten your rows. By Allah! You must certainly straighten your rows, or else Allah, the Exalted, will cause discord among your hearts.”