Sahih al-Bukhari

Whenever Ibn `Umar started the prayer with Takbir, he used to raise his hands: whenever he bowed, he used to raise his hands (before bowing) and also used to raise his hands on saying, "Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah", and he used to do the same on rising from the second rak`a (for the 3rd rak`a). Ibn `Umar said: "The Prophet (ﷺ) used to do the same."

The people were ordered to place the right hand on the left forearm in the prayer. Abu Hazim said, "I knew that the order was from the Prophet (ﷺ) ."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "You see me facing the Qibla; but, by Allah, nothing is hidden from me regarding your bowing and submissiveness and I see you from behind my back."

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Perform the bowing and the prostrations properly. By Allah, I see you from behind me (or from behind my back) when you bow or prostrate."

The Prophet, Abu Bakr and `Umar used to start the prayer with "Al hamdu li l-lahi Rabbi l-`alamin (All praise is but to Allah, Lord of the Worlds).

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) used to keep silent between the Takbir and the recitation of Qur'an and that interval of silence used to be a short one. I said to the Prophet (ﷺ) "May my parents be sacrificed for you! What do you say in the pause between Takbir and recitation?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I say, 'Allahumma, baa`id baini wa baina khatayaya kama baa`adta baina l-mashriqi wa l-maghrib. Allahumma, naqqini min khatayaya kama yunaqqa th-thawbu l-abyadu mina d-danas. Allahumma, ighsil khatayaya bi l-maa'i wa th-thalji wa l-barad (O Allah! Set me apart from my sins (faults) as the East and West are set apart from each other and clean me from sins as a white garment is cleaned of dirt (after thorough washing). O Allah! Wash off my sins with water, snow and hail.)"

The Prophet (ﷺ) once offered the eclipse prayer. He stood for a long time and then did a prolonged bowing. He stood up straight again and kept on standing for a long time, then bowed a long bowing and then stood up straight and then prostrated a prolonged prostration and then lifted his head and prostrated a prolonged prostration. And then he stood up for a long time and then did a prolonged bowing and then stood up straight again and kept on standing for a long time. Then he bowed a long bowing and then stood up straight and then prostrated a prolonged prostration and then lifted his head and went for a prolonged prostration. On completion o the prayer, he said, "Paradise became s near to me that if I had dared, I would have plucked one of its bunches for you and Hell became so near to me that said, 'O my Lord will I be among those people?' Then suddenly I saw a woman and a cat was lacerating her with it claws. On inquiring, it was said that the woman had imprisoned the cat till it died of starvation and she neither fed it no freed it so that it could feed itself."

We asked Khabbab whether Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) used to recite (the Qur'an) in the Zuhr and the `Asr prayers. He replied in the affirmative. We said, "How did you come to know about it?" He said, "By the movement of his beard."

(And Al-Bara was not a liar) Whenever we offered prayer with the Prophet (ﷺ) and he raised his head from the bowing, we used to remain standing till we saw him prostrating .

Once solar eclipse occurred during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). He offered the eclipse prayer. His companions asked, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! We saw you trying to take something while standing at your place and then we saw you retreating." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I was shown Paradise and wanted to have a bunch of fruit from it. Had I taken it, you would have eaten from it as long as the world remains."

The Prophet (ﷺ) led us in prayer and then went up to the pulpit and beckoned with both hands towards the Qibla of the mosque and then said, "When I started leading you in prayer, I saw the display of Paradise and Hell on the wall of the mosque (facing the Qibla). I never saw good and bad as I have seen today." He repeated the last statement thrice.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "What is wrong with those people who look towards the sky during the prayer?" His talk grew stern while delivering this speech and he said, "They should stop (looking towards the sky during the prayer); otherwise their eyesight would be taken away."

I asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) about looking hither and thither in prayer. He replied, "It is a way of stealing by which Satan takes away (a portion) from the prayer of a person."

Once the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed on a Khamisa with marks on it and said, "The marks on it diverted my attention, take this Khamisa to Abu Jahm and bring an Inbijaniya (from him.)"

The Prophet (ﷺ) saw expectoration in the direction of the Qibla of the mosque while he was leading the prayer, and scratched it off. After finishing the prayer, he said, "Whenever any of you is in prayer he should know that Allah is in front of him. So none should spit in front of him in the prayer."

While the Muslims were offering the Fajr prayer, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) suddenly appeared before them by living the curtain of the dwelling place of `Aisha, looked towards the Muslims who were standing in rows. He smiled with pleasure. Abu Bakr started retreating to join the row on the assumption that the Prophet wanted to come out for the prayer. The Muslims intended to leave the prayer (and were on the verge of being put to trial), but the Prophet (ﷺ) beckoned them to complete their prayer and then he let the curtain fall. He died in the last hours of that day.

The People of Kufa complained against Sa`d to `Umar and the latter dismissed him and appointed `Ammar as their chief . They lodged many complaints against Sa`d and even they alleged that he did not pray properly. `Umar sent for him and said, "O Aba 'Is-haq! These people claim that you do not pray properly." Abu 'Is-haq said, "By Allah, I used to pray with them a prayer similar to that of Allah's Apostle and I never reduced anything of it. I used to prolong the first two rak`at of `Isha prayer and shorten the last two rak`at." `Umar said, "O Aba 'Is-haq, this was what I thought about you." And then he sent one or more persons with him to Kufa so as to ask the people about him. So they went there and did not leave any mosque without asking about him. All the people praised him till they came to the mosque of the tribe of Bani `Abs; one of the men called Usama bin Qatada with a surname of Aba Sa`da stood up and said, "As you have put us under an oath; I am bound to tell you that Sa`d never went himself with the army and never distributed (the war booty) equally and never did justice in legal verdicts." (On hearing it) Sa`d said, "I pray to Allah for three things: O Allah! If this slave of yours is a liar and got up for showing off, give him a long life, increase his poverty and put him to trials." (And so it happened). Later on when that person was asked how he was, he used to reply that he was an old man in trial as the result of Sa`d's curse. `Abdul Malik, the sub narrator, said that he had seen him afterwards and his eyebrows were overhanging his eyes owing to old age and he used to tease and assault the small girls in the way.

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Whoever does not recite Al-Fatiha in his prayer, his prayer is invalid."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) entered the mosque and a person followed him. The man prayed and went to the Prophet and greeted him. The Prophet (ﷺ) returned the greeting and said to him, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed." The man went back prayed in the same way as before, returned and greeted the Prophet who said, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed." This happened thrice. The man said, "By Him Who sent you with the Truth, I cannot offer the prayer in a better way than this. Please, teach me how to pray." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "When you stand for Prayer say Takbir and then recite from the Holy Qur'an (of what you know by heart) and then bow till you feel at ease. Then raise your head and stand up straight, then prostrate till you feel at ease during your prostration, then sit with calmness till you feel at ease (do not hurry) and do the same in all your prayers.

Sa`d said, "I used to pray with them a prayer similar to that of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (the prayer of Zuhr and `Asr) reducing nothing from them. I used to prolong the first two rak`at and shorten the last two rak`at." `Umar said to Sa`d "This was what we thought about you."