The Prophets (pbuh) Salaah

In the Name of Allaah, the Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy

Praise be to Allaah, who made Prayer compulsory on his slaves and ordered them to establish it and perform it well; who linked success and felicity to humility in Prayer; who made it the criterion to distinguish between Eeman and Kufr ; and who made it a restrainer from shameful and unjust deeds. Prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, who was addressed in the Words of the Exalted: "And We have sent down to you the Message, that you may explain clearly to the people what is sent for them", and who fully carried out this task. The Prayer was one of the most important things which he explained to the people, verbally and practically, even praying on the pulpit once - standing, bowing and prostrating, and then saying to them, I have done this so that you may follow me and learn my prayer. He obligated us to copy him in his prayer, saying,

Pray as you have seen me praying.

He also gave the good tidings to whoever prayed like him that such a person has a covenant with Allaah that He will enter him into the Garden, saying, There are five prayers which Allaah, Mighty and Sublime, has made compulsory: he who performs ablution well for them, prays them at their proper times, and is complete in their bowings, prostrations and humility, he has a guarantee from Allaah that He will forgive him; but he who does not do so, has no guarantee from Allaah: if He wishes, He will forgive him or if He wishes, He will punish him.4 Prayers and peace be also on his family and his pious and just Companions, who passed on to us his worship, prayer, sayings and actions (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), and who made these, and these alone, a Madhhab and a path for them to follow; and also on those who follow in their footsteps and tread their path until the Day of Judgment.

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Raising Hands
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would raise his hands sometimes with the takbeer,[Al Bukhari and An-Nasai] He(peace be upon him) would raise his hands sometimes after the takbeer,[Ibid] and sometimes before it.[Al Bukhari and Abu Dawood] "He would raise them with fingers apart [not spaced out, nor together]",[Abu Daawood, Ibn Khuzaymah (1/62/2, 64/1), Tammaam and al-Haakim who declared it saheeh and adhDhahabee agreed] and "he would put them level with his shoulders"[Al Bukhari and An-Nasai], although occasionally, "he would raise them until they were level with [the tops of] his ears."[Al Bukhari and Abu Dawood](not touching the ears), palms facing the Qiblah (Umdat-ul-Ehkam)

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Placing Hands Volume 1, Book 12, Number 707: Narrated Sahl bin Sa'd: 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 ." He used to place the right arm on the back of his left palm, wrist and forearm"

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(Abu Daawood, an-Nasaa.ee and Ibn Khuzaymah (1/54/2) with a saheeh isnaad, and Ibn Hibbaan declared it saheeh (485) and (sometimes) "he would grasp his left arm with his right."[an-Nasai and ad-Daaraqutnee with a saheeh isnaad. In this hadeeth there is evidence that grasping is from the sunnah, and in the previous hadeeth that so is placing, so both are sunnah. As for the combination of holding and placing, which some of the later Hanafees hold to be good, then that is an innovation; its form as they state is to place the right hand on the left, holding the wrist with the little finger and the thumb, and laying flat the remaining three fingers, as described in Ibn `Aabideen's Footnotes on Durr alMukhtaar (1/454); so do not be confused by what they say]. On the authority of Taawoos, who said: "The Messenger of Allaah (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) used to place his right arm on his left arm, and clasp them firmly on his chest during prayer" - transmitted by Abu Daawood (759) with a saheeh isnaad Waa.il ibn Hujr: "That he saw the Prophet - sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam - put his right hand upon his left and place them upon his chest." Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Saheeh (Nasb ar-Raayah, 1/314) and reported by al-Bayhaqee in his Sunan (2/30) with two chains of narration which support each other.

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Standing in Saff during congregation

*Allahs Messenger* used to say: Stand close together in your rows, bring them near one another, and stand neck to neck. Abi Dawood and Nasaai, Ibn Hibban graded it Saheeh. (Bulugh al-Maram). Neck to neck here implies the same as knee to knee, which is mentioned in another narration. Which means that (i) People should stand close to each other and (ii) All their necks or knees should be in a straight linear position, and no person should be ahead of another while in the row Al-Bukhaari, may Allaah have mercy on him, narrated (683) from Anas that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: Make your rows straight, for I can see you from behind my back.

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Anas said: so each of us would stand with his shoulder against his neighbours shoulder and his foot against his foot. *Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) gave this chapter the title: Chapter on standing shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot.* He said: al-Numaan ibn Basheer said: I saw people standing with their ankles against their neighbours ankle. In one narration, straighten your rows, or Allah will create a discord within your hearts. (Bukhari and Muslim) Also, If the prayer rows become sparsely spread (with gaps between men) then by Allah I can visualize shaytan therein. (Bukhari and Muslim) . He also used to warn the sahaba saying: Straighten your rows or Allah will alter your faces. (Bukhari) Keeping these instructions in mind, the companions used to join their ankles and arms close to each other (without any gap between two persons). (Muhammed bin Ismail AsSanani in Subul us-Salam., explanantion of Bulugh al-Maram) Thus we should follow the example of those whom Allah is pleased with (the Sahaba). *Surah Al Bayyinah 98:8* Shaykh Abd al-Azeem al-Abaadi said: he said in al-Taleeq al-Mughni: These ahaadeeth clearly indicate the importance of making the rows straight, which is part of the perfection of prayer; they indicate that people should not stand back (from the row) or in front of (the row), and that they should stand shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot and knee to knee with their neighbours. But nowadays this Sunnah is being ignored! If someone does this nowadays the people shy away from him like zebras! Verily to Allaah we belong and unto Him is our return. (Awn al-Mabood, 2/256)

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Raising hands
The Prophet would pause for a moment after his recitation(surah Fatiha and another surah), raise his hands (rafu-yadain) [Bukhari and Muslim. With regards to rafu-yadain we find this in the books of Hanafi fiqh, "Know that rafu-yadain before and after rukoo is authentic and none of them is mansookh (cancelled)" Anwar Shah Kashmir & Imam Badr Alam Meerathi in Faizul Bari 2/225, Al-arf Shazi pg 125 ,Danilal Farqadeen pg 22] Then said the Takbeer and went into rukoo.He also ordered saying: When you make rukoo, place your palms on your knees, then space your fingers out (as if grasping them), then remain (like that) until every limb takes its (proper) place. [Ibn Khuzaimah and Ibn Hibban] In another narration spread your back (flat) and hold firm in your rukoo. In rukoo, the Prophet would spread his back and make it level, such that if water was poured on it, it would stay there (not run off), he would neither let his head droop nor raise it (higher than his back). [Ahmed, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah] ****The Prophet would get out of the rukoo by raising his head and standing straight until every vertebra returned to its place. He would raise his hands while straightening up (rafuyadain). [Bukhari, Abu Dawood and Muslim]

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GETTING UP AFTER JALSAH- AL-Istirahah(i.e after first rakah) and FIRST TASHAHHUD(i.e after second rakah) and after third rak'ah
He (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) would get up for the second rak'ah, supporting himself on the ground. [Al Bukhari and ash-shafi'ee] Also He would clench his fists [as one who kneads dough] during prayer: supporting himself with his hands when getting up. [Abu Ishaaq al-Harbee with a faultless sanad, and its meaning is found in al-Bayhaqee with a saheeh sanad. As for the hadeeth, "He used to get up like an arrow, not supporting himself with his hands", it is mawdoo` (fabricated), and all narrations of similar meaning are weak, not authentic, and this has be explained Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth ad-Da`eefah (562, 929, 968) When he (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) got up for the second rak'ah, he would commence with:All Praise be to Allaah}, (Soorah al-Faatihah 1:1), without pausing." [Muslim and Abu `Awaanah] He would perform this rak'ah exactly as he performed the first, except that he would make it shorter than the first, as before

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Prostration (Sajdah)
When one of you performs sajdah, he should not kneel like a camel, but should place his hands before his knees.[Abu Daawood, Tammaam in al-Fawaa.id, and an-Nasaa.ee in Sunan as-Sughraa and Sunan al-Kubraa (47/1) with a saheeh isnaad] Verily, the hands prostrate as the face prostrates, so when one of you places his face (on the ground), he should place his hands, and when he raises it, he should raise them.[Ibn Khuzaymah(1/79/2), Ahmad and Siraaj; al-Haakim declared it saheeh and adh-Dhahabee agreed. It is given in Irwaa' (313)] ****When a slave prostrates, seven limbs prostrate with him: his face, his palms, his knees and his feet[Muslim, Abu `Awaanah and Ibn Hibbaan] ******Do not spread your arms [the way a beast of prey does], rest on your palms and keep your upper arms apart, for when you do all that, every one of your limbs prostrates with you.[Ibn Khuzaymah (1/80/2), al-Maqdisee in al-Mukhtaarah and alHaakim, who declared it saheeh and adh-Dhahabee agreed] Then he would say takbeer and prostrate for the second sajdah. al-Bukhaaree and Muslim

Sitting between two Sajdahs

He would have his right foot upright" [An Nasai with sahih isnaad], and "point its toes towards the qiblah." [Muslim, Abu `Awaanah, Abu Shaykh in Maa Rawaahu Abu azZubayr `an Ghayr Jaabir (nos. 104-6) and al-Bayhaqee. He would sometimes practise iq'aa' [resting on both his heels and (all) his toes Hadeeth of Ibn `Abbaas in Muslim, Abu Daawood and at-Tirmidhee, who declared it saheeh, and others (see Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah 383);

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