Sayyiduna Muawiyah bin Hakam Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I was praying with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when one of us sneezed, so I said, "May Allah have mercy on you." The people started staring at me, so I said, "May my mother weep over me (meaning, I wish I had died), why are you staring at me?" Upon hearing this, the people began striking their hands on their thighs. When I saw that they wanted me to be silent, I became quiet. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) finished the prayer, may my parents be sacrificed for him, I have never seen a better teacher before or after him than him. By Allah, he neither hit me nor insulted me, but rather said: "Talking about worldly matters is not appropriate in prayer; it is only for glorification (tasbih), magnification (takbir), and recitation of the Qur'an," or as he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said.

I said, "O Messenger of Allah! My time of ignorance has just passed, and now Allah has granted me Islam. Some of us go to soothsayers (priests, astrologers)." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Do not go to them." Then I said, "Some of us take bad omens." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "That is something in their hearts, but it should not prevent them or you from doing anything." Then I said, "Some of us draw lines (i.e., on paper or the ground, as fortune-tellers do)." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "A prophet used to draw lines, so whoever draws lines like his, that is correct."

Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I had a slave girl who used to herd sheep towards Uhud and Jawaniyah (the name of a place). One day, when I went there, I saw that a wolf had taken away a sheep. After all, I am a man, and I get angry just as they do, so I slapped her. Then I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) considered my action very serious. I said, "O Messenger of Allah! Should I not free this slave girl?" He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Bring her to me." I brought her to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and he asked her, "Where is Allah?" She said, "In the sky." Then he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked, "Who am I?" She said, "You are the Messenger of Allah (i.e., Allah has sent you)." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Free her, for she is a believer (i.e., she is faithful)."

Sayyiduna Zaid bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We used to talk during prayer; each person would talk to the one next to him while praying. Until this verse was revealed: "Stand before Allah in silence (with obedience)." From then on, we were commanded to remain silent and speaking was prohibited.

Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that men should say "Subhan Allah" and women should clap, and in one narration it is mentioned that (this should be done) in prayer.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Either the people must stop raising their gaze towards the sky while supplicating in prayer, or their eyesight will be taken away.

It is narrated from Basar bin Saeed that Sayyiduna Zaid bin Khalid Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) sent him to Abu Juhaim (Abdullah bin Harith bin Simmah Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him) to ask what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had said about the person who passes in front of someone performing prayer. Sayyiduna Abu Juhaim (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If the one who passes in front of a person praying knew the burden (that falls upon him because of passing), he would consider it better to stand for forty than to pass in front of him. Abu Nasr said: I do not know whether (Abu Juhaim, may Allah be pleased with him) said forty days, or months, or forty years.

Abu Salih al-Samman says: I was with Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him). He was performing prayer on Friday, separated from the people by a barrier. Meanwhile, a young man from the tribe of Abu Mu'ayt came and tried to pass in front of him. Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) struck him on the chest. The young man looked around and, finding no other way, again tried to pass in front of him. Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) struck him even harder. The young man stood upright and began to quarrel with Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him). Then people came and stopped him, after which he left and went to Marwan (who was the governor of Madinah) to complain. (The narrator says) Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) went to Marwan, and Marwan said, "What did you do that your cousin is complaining about you?" Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'When any of you prays behind a barrier and someone tries to pass in front of him, let him strike his chest; if he does not desist, then let him fight him, for he is a devil.'"

Sayyiduna Talha bin Ubaidullah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We used to pray and animals would pass in front of us, so we mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace be upon him) said: If there is something in front of you equal to the back part of a saddle, then the passing of anything in front does not cause any harm.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would go out on the day of Eid, he would order a spear to be fixed in front of him. Then he would pray behind it, and the people would be behind him, and he used to do this while traveling as well. For this reason, the leaders have made it a practice (to keep a spear with them).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would make his camel face the Qiblah and would pray towards it.

‘It is narrated from ‘Awn bin Abi Juhayfah that his father, Sayyiduna Abu Juhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in a red leather tent. And I saw Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) bringing out the leftover water from the ablution of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and people began to rush to take it. Then whoever got the water rubbed it on his body, and whoever did not get it moistened his hand from his companion’s hand. Then I saw Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) bringing out a spear and fixing it in the ground, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), wearing a red garment and lifting it up to his shins, came out and stood facing the spear and led the people in two rak‘ahs of prayer. And I saw men and animals passing in front of the spear.