Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

It was narrated that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr said:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘There are three whose prayer are not accepted: A man who leads people while they do not like him; a man who does not come to prayer until its end – meaning after its time has expired – and one who enslaves a freed person.’”

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“There are three whose prayer do not rise more than a hand span above their heads: A man who leads people (in prayer) when they do not like him; a woman who has spent the night with her husband angry with her; and two brothers who have severed contact with one another.”

It was narrated that Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari said:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Two or more people are a congregation.’”

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said:

“I stayed overnight with my maternal aunt Maimunah, and the Prophet (ﷺ) got up during the night to perform prayer. So I got up and stood on his left. He took me by the hand and made me stand on his right.”

Shurahbil said:

“I heard Jabir bin ‘Abdullah say: ‘The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was performing Maghrib, and I came and stood on his left, but he made me stand on his right.’”

It was narrated that Anas said:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led a woman of his household and myself in prayer. I stood to his right and the woman stood behind us.”

It was narrated that Abu Mas’ud Al-Ansari said:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to gently pat our shoulders (to make sure the row was straight) at the time of prayer, saying: ‘Keep (the rows) straight, do not differ from one another lest your hearts should suffer from discord. Let those who are forbearing and wise stand closest to me, then those who are next to them, then those who are next to them.’”

It was narrated that Anas said:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) liked the Muhajirun and Ansar to stand closest to him, so that they could learn from him.”

It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saw that some of his Companions tended to stand in the rear, so he said:

“Come forward and follow me, and let those who are behind you follow your lead. If people continue to lag behind, Allah will put them back.”

It was narrated that Malik bin Huwairith said:

“I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) with a friend of mine, and when we wanted to leave, he said to us: ‘When the time for prayer comes, say the Adhan and Iqamah, then let the older of you lead the prayer.’”

Abu Mas’ud said:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘The people should be lead by the one who is most well-Versed in recitation of the Book of Allah. If they are equal in recitation, then they should be led by the one who emigrated first. If they are equal in emigration, then they should be led by the eldest. A man should not be led among his family or in his place of authority; no one should be sat in his place of honor in his house without permission, or without his permission.’”

Abu Hazim said:

“Sahl bin Sa’d As-Sa’idi used to give preference to the young to lead his people in prayer. It was said to him: “Do you do that, when you have such seniority (in Islam)?” He said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘The Imam is responsible. If he does well, then he will have the reward and so will they, but if he does badly, then that will be counted against him but not against them.’”

It was narrated that Salamah bint Hurr, the sister of Kharashah, said:

“I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: ‘A time will come when the people will stand for a long time and will not be able to find any Imam to lead them in prayer.”

It was narrated from Abu ‘Ali Al-Hamdani that he went out in a ship in which ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir Al-Juhani was present. The time for prayer came, and we told him to lead us in prayer and said to him:

“You are the most deserving of that, you were the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).” But he refused and said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Whoever leads the people and gets it right, the prayer will be for him and for them, but if he falls short, then that will be counted against him but not against them.”

It was narrated that Abu Mas’ud said:

“A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I stay behind and do not perform the morning prayer (in congregation) because of so-and-so, for he makes it too long for us.’ I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) preaching with such anger as he did that day. He said; ‘O people! There are among you those who repel others. Whoever among you leads others in prayer, let him keep it short, for among them are those who are weak and elderly, and those who have pressing needs.’”

It was narrated that Anas bin Malik said:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to make his prayer brief but perfect.”

It was narrated that Jabir said:

“Mu’adh bin Jabal Al-Ansari led his companions in the ‘Isha’ prayer and he made it long. A man among us went away and prayed by himself. Mu’adh was told about that and he said: ‘He is a hypocrite.’ When the man heard about that, he went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and told him what Mu’adh had said to him. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Do you want to be a cause of Fitnah (trial, tribulation), O Mu’adh? When you lead the people in prayer, recite “By the sun and its brightness,”[Ash-Shams 91] and “Glorify the Name of your Lord the Most High,” [Al-A’la 87] and “By the night as it envelopes,” [Al-Lail 92] and “Recite in the Name of your Lord.’”[Al-‘Alaq]

It was narrated that Mutarrif bin ‘Abdullah bin Shikhkhir said:

“I heard ‘Uthman bin Abul-‘As say: “The last thing that the Prophet (ﷺ) enjoined on me when he appointed me governor of Ta’if was that he said: “O ‘Uthman! Be tolerable in prayer and estimate the people based upon the weakest among them, for among them are the elderly, the young, the sick, those who live far from the mosque, and those who have pressing needs.”

‘Uthman bin Abul-‘As narrated that the last thing the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) enjoined on him was that he said:

“When you lead people, keep it short for them.”

It was narrated that Anas bin Malik said:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘I start prayer and I want to make it long, but then I hear an infant crying, so I make my prayer short, because I know the distress caused to the mother by his crying.’”