It is narrated from Sayyiduna Rifa’ah and Malik (may Allah be pleased with them), who were both brothers, sons of Rafi’, and among the people of Badr. They said: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), or he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting and we were around him (this doubt was from Hammam), when suddenly a man entered and, facing the Qiblah, began to pray. When he finished the prayer, he came and greeted the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and those present. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied to him with“Wa ‘alaik”and said:“Go and pray again, your prayer has not been performed.”So the man went back and began to pray. We were observing his prayer attentively, but we could not discern what was lacking in his prayer. Then, when he finished the prayer, he came and greeted the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the others. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied with“Wa ‘alaik”and said:“Go and pray again, your prayer has not been performed.”Hammam said: I do not know whether you told him to repeat the prayer two times or three times. Then the man said: I have not neglected anything in performing the prayer correctly; I do not know what defect or shortcoming you have observed in my prayer. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“The prayer of any one of you is not complete until he performs ablution properly, as Allah Almighty has commanded him: so he should wash his face and his hands up to the elbows, then wipe his head, and wash his feet up to the ankles. Then he should say the takbir, praise Allah Almighty, then recite as much of the Qur’an as he is able (i.e., as much as Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has permitted in this regard), then say the takbir and bow (ruku’), placing his hands on his knees until all his joints are at rest and relaxed. (When rising from ruku’) he should say «سمع الله لمن حمده» and stand up straight, making his back straight and every joint (bone) return to its place. Then, saying Allahu Akbar, he should prostrate and firmly place his face on the ground.”Hammam said: And sometimes he said:“Place his forehead on the ground until all his joints are at rest and relaxed, then say Allahu Akbar and sit properly and straighten his back.”In this way, he described the method for four rak’ahs. When he had explained, he said:“The prayer of any one of you will not be complete until he does so.”

Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyida Maymunah bint al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with her) said: When the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed prostration, he would separate both his hands from his sides to such an extent that the person behind him could see the whiteness of his armpits.

Sayyida Maymunah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed prostration, he would keep his arms away from his sides, so far apart that if a kid goat wanted, it could pass underneath (his arms). (That is, he would keep his arms so open that a kid goat could pass beneath them.)

Lady Maymunah, the wife of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him), said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) performed prostration, he would keep both his hands so open (separated from his sides) that the whiteness of his armpits could be seen from behind, and when he sat, he would lean on his left thigh.

Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with both of them) narrated that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed bowing (ruku‘), the duration of his bowing, the interval between raising his head from bowing, his prostration (sujud), and the interval between the two prostrations was approximately equal.

Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with both of them) said: I observed the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and I found his standing, his bowing, then standing straight after bowing, then his prostration, and his sitting between the two prostrations, then his prostration, and the sitting between the salutation and turning away, to be almost equal in duration. Abu Muhammad (Imam Darimi), may Allah have mercy on him, said: Bilal bin Humaid, in my opinion, is Abu Humayd al-Wazzan.

Sayyiduna Mughira bin Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived, and Sayyiduna Mughira (may Allah be pleased with him) was with him. They saw that the people had already started the Fajr prayer and had appointed Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) to lead them. He had already led them in one rak’ah. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived, he also stood in the row behind Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) for the second rak’ah. When Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman (may Allah be pleased with him) finished the prayer with salam, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and completed his prayer. The people became anxious and started saying“Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah.”When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) completed his prayer, he said to the people:“You did right, you did well.”

Sayyiduna Mughira (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When we reached the people, they had already established the prayer and Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) was leading them in the Fajr prayer and had gone into ruku‘. When he sensed the arrival of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), he began to move back, but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gestured with his blessed hand, so he completed the prayer. Then, when he finished with salam, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and I also stood up, and we performed the rak‘ah that we had missed. Abu Muhammad Imam Darimi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In terms of fatwa, I hold the opinion of the people of Kufa, that the rak‘ah which is missed should be made up, meaning it will be considered as qada, and the rak‘ah performed with the imam will be considered as the second.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We used to pray with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in intense heat, and when one of us could not place his forehead on the ground, he would spread his garment and pray on it.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I saw the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) making supplication (gesture) in this way during prayer (at the time of Tashahhud). Ibn Uyaynah gestured with his finger, and Abu al-Walid (narrated that) he gestured with the index finger.