Al-Fadl b. ‘Abbas said,“God’s Messenger came to us accompanied by ‘Abbas when we were in open country belonging to us. He prayed in a desert with no sutra in front of him, and a she-ass and a bitch of ours were playing in front of him, but he paid no attention to that.”Abu Dawud transmitted it and Nasa’i has something similar.

Abu Sa'id reported God’s Messenger as saying,“Nothing interrupts prayer, but repulse, as much as you can anyone who passes in front of you, for he is just a devil.”Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘A’isha said,“I was sleeping in front of God’s Messenger with my legs between him and the qibla. When he prostrated himself he pinched me and I drew up my legs, and when he stood up I stretched them out.”She added,“At that time there were no lamps in the houses.”(Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying,“If one of you knew what he incurred by passing in front of his brother and interfering with his prayer, it would be better for him to stop a hundred years than to take a single step.”Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Ka‘b al-Ahbar said,“If one who passes in front of a man who is praying knew what was laid to his charge, it would be better for him to be swallowed up by the earth than to pass in front of him.”A version has“less serious for him.”Malik transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s Messenger as saying,“When one of you prays without a sutra, an ass, a pig, a Jew, a Magian, and a woman cut off his prayer, but it will suffice if they pass in front of him at a distance of over a stone’s throw.”Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Abu Huraira said that a man entered the mosque when God’s Messenger was sitting in it and prayed. He then came and said,“Peace be upon you,”and God’s Messenger replied,“And upon you be peace. Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.”He returned and prayed, then came and said,“Peace be upon you,”to which he replied,“And upon you be peace. Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.”On the third or fourth occasion he said,“Teach me, Messenger of God,”so he said:“When you get up to pray perform the ablution perfectly, then face the qibla and say,“God is most great.”Then recite a convenient portion of the Qur’an; then bow and remain quietly in that attitude; then raise yourself and stand erect; then prostrate yourself and remain quietly in that attitude; then raise yourself and sit quietly; then prostrate yourself and remain quietly in that attitude; then raise yourself and sit quietly.”A version has,“Then raise yourself and stand erect; then do that throughout all your prayer.”(Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘A’isha said that God’s Messenger used to begin prayer with the takbir1 and the recitation of“Praise be to God, the Lord of the universe.”2 When he bowed he neither kept his head up nor bent it down, but kept it between these extremes; when he raised his head after bowing he did not prostrate himself till he had stood erect; when he raised head after a prostration he did not prostrate himself again till he had sat up. At the end of every two rak'as he said the tahiya;3 and he used to bend his left foot and raise up the right; he prohibited the devil’s way of sitting on the heels, and he forbade people to spread out their arms like a wild beast. And he used to finish the prayer with the taslim4. Muslim transmitted it. 1. i.e. saying Allahu Akbar (God is most great). 2. Al-Qur’an; 1. 3. This is a part of the prayers which comes at the end of every two rak'as, beginning with at-tahiyat lillah and ending with the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Tahiyat is the plural of tahiya and the phrase quoted above is variously explained as meaning that endless existence, or dominion, or kingship, or freedom from all evils, or freedom from all causes of cessation of existence belong to God. Alternatively it is taken in its usual meaning of salutations. 4. Saying,“The peace and mercy of God be upon you,”first with the head turned to the right and then with the head turned to the left. This is said at the end of the prayers.

Abu Humaid as-Sa'idi said among a company of the companions of God’s Messenger,“I am the one among you who is best versed in the way God’s Messenger prayed. I saw that when he uttered the takbir he placed his hands opposite his shoulders; when he bowed he rested his hands on his knees, then bent his back; when he raised his head he stood erect with his spine straight; when he prostrated himself he placed his arms so that they were not spread out, and the fingers were not drawn in, and the points of his toes were facing the qibla; when he sat up at the end of two rak'as he sat on his left foot and raised the right; and when he sat up after the last rak'a he put forward the left foot, raised the other, and sat on his hips.”Bukhari transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar said that God’s Messenger used to raise his hands opposite his shoulders when he began prayer and when he said the takbir before bowing; and when he raised his head after bowing he raised them in the same way and said,“God listens to him who praises Him. To Thee, our Lord, be the praise!”But he did not do that when he prostrated himself. (Bukhari and Muslim.)