Sunan Abi Dawud

O mu’adh, do not become a trouble , because the aged, the weak, the needy and the traveler pray behind you.

AbuSalih reported on the authority of some Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ): The Prophet (ﷺ) said to a person: what do you say in prayer? He replied: I first recite tashahhud (supplication recited in sitting position), and then I say: O Allah, I ask Thee for Paradise, and I seek refuge in Thee from Hell-Fire, but I do not understand your sound and the sound of Mu'adh (what you say or he says in prayer). The Prophet (ﷺ) said: We too go around it (paradise and Hell-fire).

The prophet (ﷺ) said to a youth: My nephew, what do you do in prayer? He replied: I recited fatihat al-katab and I ask Allah for paradise and seek his refuge from hell-fire I do not understand well your sound and the sound of mu’adh. The prophet (ﷺ) said: I and Mu’adh go around both (paradise and Hell-fire), or he said something similar.

When one of you leads the people in prayer, he should be brief, for among them are the weak, the sick, and the aged. But when one of you prays by himself, he may pray as long as he likes.

when one of you leads the people in prayer, he should be brief, for among them are the sick, the aged and the needy.

I heard the apostle of Allah (ﷺ) say: A man returns after saying his prayer while a tenth part of his prayer, or a ninth part, or an eight part, or a seventh part, or a sixth part, or a fifth part, or a third part, or half of it, is recorded for him.

In every prayer there is a recitation. We make you listen what the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) made us listen, and we keep hidden from you what he kept hidden from us.

The apostle of Allah (ﷺ) used to lead us in prayer and recite in the first two rak’ahs of the noon prayers Fatihat al-kitab and two surahs, and he would sometimes recite loud enough for us to hear the verse. He would prolong the first rak’ah of the noon prayer and shorten the second; and he did so in the morning prayer. Abu Dawud said: Musaddad did not mention the words fatihat al-kitab and surah.

He would recite Fatihat al-kitab in the last two surahs. Hammam added: He would prolong the first rak’ah but would not prolong the second so much; and he did so similarly in the afternoon prayer, and so in the morning prayer.

We thought that by this (prolonging the first rak’ah). He (the prophet) meant that the people might join the first rak’ah.

We asked Khabbab: Did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recit (the Quran) in the noon and afternoon prayers? He replied: Yes. We then asked: How did you know this? He said: By the shaking of his beard, may peace be upon him.

The prophet (ﷺ) used to stand in the rak’ah of prayer so much so that no sound of steps heard.

’Umar said to Sa’d: people complain against you for everything, even for prayer. He replied: I prolong the first two rak’ahs of prayer and make the last two rak’ahs brief; I do not fall short of following the prayer offered by the Messenger of Allah(May peace be upon him). He said: I think so about you.

We used to estimate how long the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood in the noon and the afternoon prayer, and we estimated that he stood in the first two rak’ahs of the noon prayer as long as it takes to recite thirty verses (of the Qur’an), such as A-L-M Tanzil al-Sajdah. And we estimated that he stood in the last two rak’ahs half the time he stood in the first two rak’ahs. We estimated that he stood in the first two rak’ahs of the afternoon prayer as long as he did in the last two at noon; and we estimated that he stood in the last two rak’ahs of the afternoon prayer half the time he did in first two.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to recite in the noon and afternoon prayer: "By the Heaven and the Morning Star" (Surah 86) and "By the Heaven , holding mansions of the stars" (Surah 85) and similar surahs of equal length.

When the sun declined, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) offered the noon prayer and recited surahs lie "By the night when it covers over" (92) and (recited similar surahs) in the afternoon prayer, and in the other prayers except the dawn prayer which he used to prolong.

The prophet (ﷺ) prostrated himself in the noon prayer; then he stood up and bowed, and we knew that he recited Tanzil al-sajdah(surah xxxii). Ibn ‘Isa said: No one narrated this tradition to Umayyah except Mu’tamir.

Abdullah ibn Ubaydullah said: I went to Ibn Abbas accompanying some youths of Banu Hashim. We said to one of them: Ask Ibn Abbas: Did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recite (the Qur'an) in the noon and afternoon prayers? He replied: No. People said to him: Perhaps he might recite the Qur'an quietly. He said: May your face be scratched (a kind of curse)! This (statement) is worse than the former. He was only a servant (of Allah) receiving Commands from Him. He preached (the divine) message which he brought with him. He did not command anything to us (Banu Hashim) specially excluding other people except three points: he commanded us to perform ablution perfectly, and not to accept charity (sadaqah) and not to make pairing of donkey with horse.

I do not know whether the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would recite the Qur'an at the noon and afternoon prayer or not.

I heard Ibn’Abbas reciting wa’l-mursalat urfan(surah lxxxvii). She said; sonny you have reminded me of this surah by your recitation. Thie is the last surah which I heard the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) reciting in the sunset prayer.