Nafi‘ said that when Ibn ‘Umar began prayer he said the takbir and raised his hands; when he bowed he raised his hands; when he said,“God listens to him who praises Him”he raised his hands; and when he got up at the end of two rak'as he raised his hands. Ibn ‘Umar traced that back to the Prophet. Bukhari transmitted it.

Malik b. al-Huwairith said that when God’s Messenger said the takbir he raised his hands and placed them opposite his ears, and when he raised his head after bowing and said,“God listens to him who praises Him,”he did the same. A version has,“and placed them opposite the tops of his ears.”(Bukhari and Muslim.)

He said that he saw the Prophet praying, and when he had prayed an odd number of rak'as he did not stand up till after he had adopted a sitting position. Bukhari transmitted it.

Wa’il b. Hujr said that he saw the Prophet raise his hands when he began prayer. He said the takbir, then pulled his garment round him, then placed his right hand on his left. When he was about to bow he took his hands out of his garment, and after he had raised (them and said the takbir he bowed. When he said,“God listens to him who praises Him”he raised his hands, and when he prostrated himself he did it between his hands. Muslim transmitted it.

Sahl b. Sa'd said that the people received command that a man should place the right hand on the left forearm in prayer. Bukhari transmitted it.

Abu Huraira said that when God’s Messenger got up to pray he would say the takbir when standing, then say the takbir when bowing, then say,“God listens to him who praises Him”when coming to an erect position after bowing, then say while standing,“To Thee, our Lord, be the praise,”then say the takbir when getting down for prostration, then say the takbir when he raised his head, then say the takbir when he prostrated himself, then say the takbir when he raised his head. He would do that throughout the whole prayer till he finished it, and he would say the takbir when he got up at the end of two rak'as after adopting the sitting posture. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Jabir reported God’s Messenger as saying,“The most excellent prayer consists in long standing in prayer.”Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Humaid as-Sa‘idi once told a company of ten of the Prophet’s companions that he was more informed than any of them regarding the manner in which God’s Messenger conducted his prayer, and when they asked him to expound it to them, he said:When God’s Messenger stood up to pray he raised his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders and said the takbir; then he recited some verses; then said the takbir, raising his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders; then he bowed, placing the palms of his hands on his knees and keeping himself straight neither raising nor lowering his head; then raised his head saying,“God listens to him who praises Him”; then raised his hands placing them exactly opposite his shoulders; then said the takbir; then lowered himself to the ground in prostration, keeping his arms away from his sides and bending his toes; then raised his head, bent his left foot and sat on it; then he adopted a natural position so that every bone returned properly to its place; then he prostrated himself; then he said the takbir, raised himself and bent his left foot and sat on it: then he adopted a natural position so that every bone returned to its place; then he got up, and did the same as that in the second rak'a. At the end of two rak'as he stood up and said the takbir, raising his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders in the way he had said the takbir on beginning to pray; then he did that in the remainder of his prayer, and after the sajda* which is followed by the taslim he put out his left foot and sat on his left hip; then he uttered the taslim. They said,“You have spoken the truth. This is how he used to pray.”*i.e. prostration Abu Dawud and Darimi transmitted it. And Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted something to the same effect. Tirmidhi saying that this is a hasan sahih tradition. Then he bowed and placed his hands on his knees as though he were clutching them, and he bent his arms and kept them away from his sides. He (i.e. the narrator) said that he then prostrated himself placing his nose and his forehead on the ground, keeping his arms away from his sides, placing the palms of his hands [on the ground] opposite his shoulders, keeping his thighs separate and not letting his stomach press on any part of his thighs till he finished; then he sat up and spread out his left foot, putting forward the front of his right foot towards his qibla, placing the palm of his right hand on his right knee and the palm of his left hand on his left knee, and he pointed with his finger, i.e., his forefinger. In another version by him [it says] : When he sat at the end of two rak'as he sat on the sole of his left foot and raised the right, and after the fourth he placed his left hip on the ground and put out both feet on one side. A version by Abu Dawud of the tradition of Abu Humaid.

Wa il b. Hujr said he saw that when the Prophet stood up to pray he raised his hands till they were in front of his shoulders and placed his thumbs opposite his ears, then he said the takbir. Abu Dawud transmitted it, and in a version by him it says that he raised his thumbs to the lobes of his ears.

Qabisa b. Hulb quoted his father as saying that God’s Messenger would lead them in prayer and hold his left hand in his right. Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.