Sunan Ibn Majah

“I have never seen anyone whose prayer more closely resembles that of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) than so-and-so. He used to lengthen the first two Rak’ah of the Zuhr and shorten the last two Rak’ah, and he used to shorten the ‘Asr.”

“Thirty of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who had been at Badr came together and said: ‘Come, let us estimate the length of the recitation of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for the prayer in which Qur’an is not recited out aloud.’ No two men among them disagreed, and they estimated the length of his recitation in the first Rak’ah of the Zuhr to be thirty Verses and in the second Rak’ah to be half of that. They estimated his recitation in ‘Asr to be half of the last two Rak’ah of Zuhr.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to recite when leading us in the first two Rak’ah of the Zuhr prayer, and sometimes he would recite such that we could hear the Verse.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to lead us for the Zuhr, and we would hear him reciting a Verse after the Verses from Surat Luqman (31) and Adh-Dhariyat (51).”

“(She was) Lubabah” that she heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) reciting ‘By the winds sent forth one after another...’ in the Maghrib.

“I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) reciting At-Tur (52) in the Maghrib.” In a different narration, Jubair said: “And when I heard him recite: ‘Were they created by nothing? Or were they themselves the creators?’ up to: ‘Then let their listener produce some manifest proof’, it was as if my heart were about to take flight.”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) used to recite in the Maghrib: ‘Say: O you disbelievers!’ and ‘Say: He is Allah, (the) One.’”

“I heard him reciting ‘By the fig, and the olive’.”

“I have never heard any man with a better voice or who recites better than him.”

“Recite ‘By the sun and its brightness,’[Al-Shams (91)] ‘Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High,’ [Al-A’la (87)] ‘By the night as it envelops,’ or, ‘Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created.’”

“There is no prayer for the one who does not recite Fatihatil-Kitab in it.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever performs a prayer in which he does not recite Ummul Qur’an (the Mother of the Qur’an, i.e., Al- Fatihah), it is deficient; not complete.’” I said: ‘O Abu Hurairah, sometimes I am behind the Imam. He pressed my forearm and said: ‘O Persian! Recite it to yourself.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘There is no prayer for the one who does not recite in every Rak’ah: Al-Hamd (Al-Fatihah) and a Surah whether in an obligatory prayer or another.’”

“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Every prayer in which the Ummul-Kitab (the Mother of the Book) is not recited is deficient.’”

“Every prayer in which Fatihatil-Kitab (the Opening of the Book) is not recited, it is deficient, it is deficient.”

“Should I recite when the Imam is reciting?” He said: “A man asked the Prophet (ﷺ) whether there was recitation in every prayer. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Yes.’ A man among the people said: ‘It has become obligatory.’”

“We used to recite the Opening of the Book and a Surah behind the Imam in the first two Rak’ah of the Zuhr and the ‘Asr, and in the last wo Rak’ah (we would recite) the Opening of the Book.”

“There are two pauses which I memorized from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), but `Imran bin Husain denied that. We wrote to Ubayy bin Ka`b in Al-Madinah, and he wrote that Samurah had indeed memorized them.” (One of the narrators) Sa`eed said: "We said to Qatadah: 'What are these two pauses?' He said: 'When he started his prayer, and when he finished reciting.' Then later he said: 'And when he recited: 'Not (the way) of those who earned your anger, nor of those who went astray.' They used to like (for the Imam) when he had finished reciting to remain silent until he had caught his breath.'"

“I memorized two pauses in the prayer, a pause before reciting and a pause when bowing. ‘Imran bin Husain denied that, so they wrote to Al-Madinah, to Ubayy bin Ka’b, and he said that Samurah was speaking the truth.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘The Imam has been appointed to be followed, so when he says Allahu Akbar, then say Allahu Akbar, when he recites, then listen attentively; when he says: Not (the way) of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray, then say Amin; when he bows then bow; when he says Sami’ Allahu liman hamidah (Allah hears those who praise Him), then say Allahumma Rabbana wa lakal-hamd (O Allah, our Lord, to You is the praise);” when he prostrates then prostrate; and if he prays sitting down then all of you pray sitting down.’”