Rifa'a b. Rafi' said that a man came and prayed in the mosque, after which he went and saluted the Prophet, who replied,“Repeat your prayer, for you have not prayed.”He asked him to teach him how to pray and he said:When you face the qibla say the takbir; then recite Umm al-Qur’an* and what God wishes you to recite; when you bow place the palms of your hands on your knees, bowing completely and stretching out your back; when you raise yourself straighten your spine and raise your head so as to adopt an erect position; when you prostrate yourself do it completely; when you raise yourself sit on your left thigh; do that every time you bow and prostrate yourself till you are at rest, having finished your prayer. This is the wording of al-Masabih. *The first sura. Abu Dawud transmitted it with a slight alteration, and Tirmidhi and Nasa’i transmitted something to the same effect. In a version by Tirmidhi he said,“When you get up to pray perform the ablution as God commanded you, then say the shahada (The testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger) and proceed with the prayer. If you know any of the Qur’an recite it, otherwise say, ‘Praise be to God; God is most great; there is no god but God.’ Then bow.”

AI-Fadl b. ‘Abbas reported God’s Messenger as saying,“The prayer is in twos, every two rak'as containing an utterance of the tahiyat, and acts of submission, supplication and humility. Then you should uplift your hands, i.e., raise them to your Lord, with the palms opposite your face, and say, ‘My Lord, my Lord.’ Anyone who does not do that is such and such.”* A version has,“is guilty of imperfection.”*A vague phrase indicating that the prayer is defective. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Sa'id b. al-Harith b. al-Mu‘alla said that Abu Sa'id al-Khudri led them in prayer and said the takbir loudly when he raised his head after the prostration, when he prostrated himself, and when he rose at the end of two rak'as, and he said,“Thus did I see the Prophet do." Bukhari transmitted it.

‘Ikrima said:I prayed behind an old man in Mecca and he said the takbir twenty-two times. When I said to Ibn ‘Abbas that the man was a fool, he replied,“I am surprised at you. It was the sunna of Abul Qasim.”* *This is the Prophet’s kunya. Bukhari transmitted it.

‘Ali b. al-Husain told in mursal form that God’s Messenger said the takbir in prayer as often as he got down1 and got up2 and that this continued to be his method in prayer till he met God. 1. i.e. for bowing or prostration. 2. i.e. after prostration. Malik transmitted it.

‘Alqama said that Ibn Mas'ud suggested leading them in prayer in the way God’s Messenger had performed it. He prayed, raising his hands only once, along with the takbir at the beginning. Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it, and Abu Dawud said it is not sahih put this way.

Abu Humaid as-Sa‘idi said that when God’s Messenger stood up to pray, he faced the qibla, raised his hands and said,“God is most great." Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Abu Huraira told how on an occasion when God’s Messenger led them in the noon prayer, there was a man at the back of the rows who performed the prayer badly. When he had said the taslim God’s Messenger called out to him,“So and so, do you not fear God? Do you not see how you should pray? You people think that part of what you are doing is hidden from me, but I swear by God that I see behind me just as I see in front of me." Ahmad transmitted it.

Abu Huraira said that God’s Messenger used to observe a period of silence between the takbir and the recitation of the Qur an, so he addressed him thus,“Messenger of God, for whom I would give my father and mother as ransom, what do you say during your period of silence between the takbir and the recitation?”He replied that he said,“O God, remove my sins far from me as Thou hast removed the East far from the West. O God, purify me from sins as a white garment is purified from filth. O God, wash away my sins with water, snow and hail.”(Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘Ali said that when the Prophet stood up for prayer (a version saying, when he began the prayer) he said the takbir, then said,“I have turned my face as a hanif* towards Him who created the heavens and the earth, and I am not a polytheist. My prayer and my devotion, my life and my death belong to God the Lord of the universe, who has no partner. That is what I have been commanded, and I am a Muslim. O God, Thou art the King. There is no god but Thee. Thou art my Lord and I am Thy servant. I have wronged myself, but I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me all my sins, Thou who alone canst forgive sins; and guide me to the best qualities, Thou who alone canst guide to the best of them; and turn me from evil ones, Thou who alone canst turn from evil qualities. I come to serve and please Thee. All good is in Thy hands and evil does not pertain to Thee. I seek refuge in Thee and turn to Thee, who art blessed and exalted. I ask Thy forgiveness and turn to Thee in repentance.”When he bowed he said,“O God, to Thee I bow, in Thee I trust, and to Thee I submit myself. My hearing, my sight, my brain, my bone and my sinews humble themselves before Thee.”When he raised his head he said,“O God, to Thee belongs praise in the whole of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and in whatever Thou createst afterwards.”When he prostrated himself he said,“O God, to Thee I prostrate myself, in Thee I trust, and to Thee I submit myself. My face has prostrated itself before Him who created it, fashioned it, and brought forth its hearing and seeing. Blessed is God, the best of creators.”Then at the end of what he said between uttering the tahiyat and the taslim was,“O God, forgive me my former and latter sins, my open and my secret sins, my sins of negligence, and what Thou knowest better than I. Thou art He who puts forward and puts back. There is no god but Thee.”* A believer in one God. Cf. Al-Qur’an; 3:95; 22:31; 98:5. Muslim transmitted it. A version by Shafi‘i has,“Evil does not pertain to Thee, and the one who is guided is he whom Thou guidest. I seek refuge in Thee and turn to Thee. There is no shelter from Thee and no place of refuge except by having recourse to Thee who art blessed.”