Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the mosque. A man entered the mosque. He performed prayer and then came and sat down. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Go back and perform the prayer, for you have not performed the prayer. This happened three times. Then the man said: By the One Who has sent you with the truth, I do not know any better than this. Please teach me. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When you stand for prayer, say the takbir and recite whatever you know of the Qur’an, then bow until you are at ease in bowing, then rise until you are standing straight, then prostrate until you are at ease in prostration, then rise until you are at ease sitting. Perform your entire prayer in this manner.

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:): The statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):“Recite whatever you know of the Qur’an,”by this he meant the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah. And the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):“Go back and perform the prayer, for you have not performed the prayer,”the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) negated the prayer of this man due to his shortcoming in fulfilling what was obligatory upon him. This does not mean that the man did not perform the prayer at all. So, when his action was deficient in terms of perfection, the name (of prayer) was completely negated from him.