Sunan Abi Dawud

It has been narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said : The Prayer of a man in sitting condition is half the prayer (wins him half the reward of prayer). I came to him and found him prayer in sitting condition. I placed my hand on my head (in surprise). He said: what is the matter,’Abd Allah b. ‘Amr? I said; Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) you have been reported to me as saying : the prayer of a man in sitting condition is half the prayer , but you are praying in sitting condition. He said: yes, but I am not like one of you.

‘Imran b. Hussain asked the prophet (ﷺ) about the prayer a man offers in sitting condition. He replied: his prayer in standing condition is better than his prayer in sitting condition, and his prayer in sitting condition is half the prayer he offers in standing condition, and his prayer in lying condition is half the prayer he offers in sitting condition.

I had a fistula; so I asked the prophet (ﷺ). He said: offer prayer in standing condition; if you are unable to do so, then in sitting condition: if you are then at your side(i.e, in lying condition).

I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) reciting the Quraan in his prayer at night in sitting condition until he became old. Then he used to sit in it (the prayer) and recite the Quran until forty or thirty verses remained, then he stood and recited them and prostrated himself.

when the prophet (ﷺ) prayed sitting, he recited the Quran in sitting condition. When the amount of his recitation remained about thirty or forty verses he stood up and recited them standing. He then bowed and prostrated and then did so in the second Rak’ah of the prayer. Abu Dawud said: 'Alqamah b. Waqqas narrated this tradition on the authority of 'Aishah from the Prophet (ﷺ) to the same effect.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray standing at night for a long time, and used to pray sitting at night for a long time. When he prayed standing, he bowed standing, and when he prayed sitting, he bowed sitting.

I asked ‘A’ishah whether the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited a whole Surah (of the Quran) in one Rak’ah of the prayer. She replied : (He recited from among) the Mufassal surahs. I asked: Did he pray (at night) sitting? She replied : (he prayed sitting) when the people made him old.

I said that I should look at the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) how he prays. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood up and faced the qiblah (i.e. the direction of Ka'bah) and uttered the takbir (Allah is most great); then he raised his hands till he brought them in front of his ears; then he caught hold of his left hand with his right hand (i.e. folded his hands). When he was about to bow, he raised them (his hands) in a like manner. Then he sat, stretched out his left foot (to sit on it), placed his left hand on his left thigh, and kept away the tip of his right elbow from his right thigh, joined two fingers, formed a ring, to do so. And the narrator Bishr made a ring with the thumb and the middle finger.

"A Sunnah of the prayer is that you should raise your right foot, and make your left foot lie (on the ground)."

"I heard Al-Qasim saying: "Abdullah bin 'Abdullah informed me that he heard 'Abdullah bin 'Umar saying: "From the Sunnah of the prayer is to lay your left foot on the ground, and raise your right foot."

Hammad bin Zaid also said (the wording): "From the Sunnah" (narrating) from Yahya just as Jarir did.

(There is another chain) from Yahya bin Sa'eed that Al-Qasim bin Muhammad saw them sitting in Tashah-hud, so he mentioned the Hadith.

"When the Prophet (ﷺ) would sit in the prayer, he would place his left foot horizontally - so much so that the upper-part of his foot became black."

I am more informed than any of you regarding the manner in which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) offered his prayer. They said: Present it. The narrator then reported the tradition, saying: he bent the toes of his feet turning them towards the Qiblah when he prostrated, then he uttered “ Allah is most great,” and raised (his head), and bent his left foot and sat on it, and he did the same in the second Rakah. The narrator then transmitted the tradition, and added: In the prostration (i.e., the Rakah) which ended at the salutation, he sat on the hips at the left side. ahmad (b. Hanbal) added: they said : You are right. This is how he used to pray. They (Ahmed and Musaddad) did not mention in their versions how he sat after offering two rak’ahs of prayer.

When he( the Prophet) sat up the two rak’ahs he sat on his left foot; and when sat up after the last rak’ah he put out his left foot and sat on his hip.

I was sitting in the company( of the Companions). He then narrated this tradition saying: When he(the Prophet) sat up after two rak’ahs, he sat on the sole of his left foot and raised his left foot. When he sat up after four rak’ahs, he placed his left hip on the ground and put out his both feet on one side.

He(the Prophet) prostrated himself, he depended on his palms, knees and the toes of his feet. When he sat up, he sat on his hips, and raised his other foot. He then uttered the takbir(Allah is most great) and prostrated himself. He uttered the takbir and stood up and did not sit on his hips. Then he repeated(the same) and offered the second rak’ah; he uttered the takbir in the same manner, and sat up after two rak’ahs. When he was about to stand up, he stood up after saying the takbir. Then he offered the last two rak’ahs. When he saluted, he saluted on his right and left sides. Abu Dawud said: in this tradition there is no mention of sitting on hips and raising hands when he stood after two rak’ahs as narrated by ‘Abu al-Hamid.

Abu Humaid, Abu usaid, Sahl b. Sa’d and Muhammad b. Maslamah got together. Then he narrated this tradition. He did not mention the raising of hands when he stood after two rak’ahs, nor did he mention sitting. He said: When he finished (his prostration), he spread his foot (on the ground) and turned the toes of his right feet towards the qiblah(and then he sat on his left foot).

when we (prayed and) sat up during prayer along the Messenger of Allah (may peach be upon him), we said: “Peace be to Allah before it is supplicated for His servants; peace be to so and so. “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Do not say “Peace be to Allah ,”for Allah Himself is peace. When one of you sits(during the prayer), he should say: The adoration of the tongue are due to Allah, and acts of worship and all good things. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and Allah’s mercy and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon Allah’s upright servants. When you say that, it reaches every upright servant in heavens and earth or between heavens and earth. I testify that there is no god but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and apostle. Then he may choose any supplication which pleases him and offer it.

We did not know what we should say when we sat during prayer. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was taught (by Allah). He then narrated the tradition to the same effect. Sharik reported from Jami', from AbuWa'il on the authority of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud something similar. He said: He used to teach us also some other words, but he did not teach them as he taught us the tashahhud: O Allah, join our hearts, mend our social relationship, guide us to the path of peace, bring us from darkness to light, save us from obscenities, outward or inward, and bless our ears, our eyes, our hearts, our wives, our children, and relent toward us; Thou art the Relenting, the Merciful. And make us grateful for Thy blessing and make us praise it while accepting it and give it to us in full.