He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used
to stand in prayer for both obligatory
and voluntary prayers, carrying out
the command of the Exalted:
"And
stand before Allaah devoutly."
(Baqarah, 2:238)
As for during a journey, he would
pray voluntary prayers on his riding
beast.
He set the example for his ummah
to pray during severe fear on foot
or while mounted, as has been mentioned,
and that is the purpose of the
saying of Allaah:
"Guard
strictly your (habit of) prayers,
especially the Middle Prayer14,
and stand before Allaah devoutly.
If you fear (an enemy) then pray
on foot, or while riding. But when
you are in security, celebrate
Allaah's praises in the manner
He has taught you, which you did
not know before." (Baqarah,
2:238-9)
He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
prayed sitting during the illness
of which he died."15
He also prayed sitting on another
occasion before that, when he was
injured, and the people behind
him prayed standing; so he indicated
to them to sit, so they sat (and
prayed). When he finished, he said,
You were going to do as the
Persians and the Romans do: stand
for their kings who sit. So do
not do so, for the Imaam is there
to be followed: when he makes rukoo',
make rukoo', when he rises, rise;
and when he prays sitting, pray
sitting [all of you].16
'Imran
ibn Husain (radiallaahu 'anhu) said,
"I was suffering from haemorrhoids
(piles), so I asked the Messenger
of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam) and he said, Pray standing;
if you are not able, then sitting
down; if you are not able to do so,
then pray lying down.17
'Imraan ibn Husain also said, "I
asked him (sallallaahu 'alaihi
wa sallam) about the prayer of
a man while sitting, so he said:
He who prays standing, that
is better; he who prays sitting,
his reward is half that of the
former. He who prays lying down
(and in another narration: reclining),
has half the reward of the one
who sits.18This
applies to the sick person, for
Anas (radiallaahu 'anhu) said,
"The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam) came out to
the people while they were praying
sitting due to illness, so he said:
Verily, the prayer of one who
sits is (worth) half of the prayer
of the one who stands.19
Once "he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam) visited a sick person and
saw him praying (leaning) on a
pillow, so he took it and cast
it aside. So the man took a stick
to pray (leaning) on it, but he
took it and cast it aside and said:
Pray on the ground if you can,
but otherwise make movements with
your head, making your sujood lower
than your rukoo."20
He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) was
asked about prayer on a ship, so
he said, Pray on it standing,
unless you are afraid of drowning.21
When he grew old he took a support
at his place of prayer to lean
on22.
He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam),
used to pray long through the night
standing, and long through the night
sitting, and if he recited standing,
he would bow standing, and if he
recited sitting, he would bow sitting."23
Sometimes, "He would pray sitting,
so he would recite sitting until
about thirty or forty verses of
his recitation wre left; he would
then stand up to recite these standing
and then bow and prostrate, and
he would do likewise in the second
raka'ah."24
In fact, "he prayed as-subhah25
sitting down towards the end of
his life when he had grown old,
and that was a year before his
death."26
Also "he would sit cross-legged."27
"He
used to stand (in prayer) bare-footed
sometimes and wearing shoes sometimes."28
He allowed this for his ummah,
saying: When one of you prays,
he should wear his shoes or take
them off and put them between his
feet, and not harm others with
them.29
He encouraged prayer wearing them
sometimes, saying: Be different
from the Jews, for they do not
pray in their shoes nor in their
khuffs (leather socks).30
Occasionally he would remove them
from his feet while in prayer and
then continue his prayer, as Abu
Sa'eed al-Khudri has said:
"The
Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam) prayed with
us one day. Whilst he was engaged
in the prayer he took off his shoes
and placed them on his left. When
the people saw this, they took
off their shoes. When he finished
his prayer he said, Why did
you take your shoes off? They
said, 'We saw you taking your shoes
off, so we took our shoes off.'
He said, Verily Jibreel came
to me and informed me that there
was dirt - or he said: something
harmful - (in another narration:
filth)on my shoes, so I took them
off. Therefore, when one of you
goes to the mosque, he should look
at his shoes: if he sees in them
dirt - or he said: something harmful
- (in another narration: filth)
he should wipe them and pray in
them.31
"When
he removed them, he would place
them on his left"32
and he would also say: When one
of you prays, he should not place
his shoes on his right nor on his
left, where they will be on someone
else's right, except if there is
no one on his left, but he should
place them between his feet.33
"Once
he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
prayed on the pulpit (in another
narration: '... which had three steps')34.
Hence [he stood on it and said takbeer
and the people behind him said takbeer
while he was on the pulpit,] [then
he made rukoo' on the pulpit,] then
he rose and descended backwards to
make sajdah at the foot of the pulpit.
Then he returned, [and did on it
as he had done in the first rak'ah],
until he completed his prayer. He
then turned to the people and said:
O people! I have done this so
that you may follow me and learn
my prayer.35
The
Sutrah36,
and the Obligation to have one
"He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used
to stand near to the sutrah, so that
there was (a distance of) three cubits
between him and the wall"37
and "between the place of his prostration
and the wall, (there was) enough
space for a sheep to pass."38
He used to say: "Do not pray
except towards a sutrah, and do
not let anyone pass in front of
you, but if someone continues (to
try to pass) then fight him, for
he has a companion (i.e. a shaytaan)
with him."39
He would also say: "When one
of you prays towards a sutrah,
he should get close to it so that
Shaytaan cannot break his prayer."40
Sometimes "he would seek to pray
at the pillar which was in his
mosque."41
"When
he prayed [in an open space where
there was nothing to use as sutrah]
he would plant a spear in the ground
in front of him and pray towards
it with the people behind him"42;
Sometimes "he would to set his
mount sideways and pray towards
it"43
but this is not the same as prayer
in the resting-place of camels44,
which "he forbade"45,
and sometimes "he would take his
saddle; set it lengthways and pray
towards its end."46
He would say: When one of you
places in front of him something
such as the stick on the end of
a saddle, he should pray and not
mind anyone who passes beyond it.47
Once "he prayed towards a tree"48
and sometimes "he would pray towards
the bed on which 'Aa'ishah (radi
Allaahu anhaa) was lying [under
her sheet]."49
He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam),
would not let anything pass between
him and his sutrah, hence once
"he was praying, when a sheep came
running in front of him, so he
raced it until he pressed his belly
against the wall [and it passed
behind him]."50
Also, once "while praying an obligatory
prayer, he clenched his fist (during
it), so when he had finished, the
people said: 'O Messenger of Allaah,
did something happen during the
prayer?' He said: No, except
that the devil wanted to pass in
front of me, so I strangled him
until I could feel the coldness
of his tongue on my hand By Allaah!
Had my brother Sulaimaan not beaten
me to it51,
I would have tied him (the devil)
to one of the pillars of the mosque
so that the children of Madinah
could walk round him. [So whoever
can prevent something intervening
between him and the qiblah, he
must do so]."52
He also used to say:
When
one of you prays towards something
which is a sutrah between him and
the people and someone intends
to cross in front of him, then
he should push him in the throat
[and repel, as much as he can],
(in one narration: he should stop
him, twice) but if he refuses (to
not pass) then he should fight
him, for verily he is a devil.53
He also used to say: If the person
who passed in front of someone
praying knew (the sin) on him,
it would be better for him to wait
forty than to pass in front. (Abu
an-Nadr said, "I do not remember
exactly whether he said forty days,
months or years.").54
He
used to say: A man's prayer is
cut off when there is nothing such
as the end of a saddle in front of
him, by: a [menstruating]55
woman, a donkey or a black dog.
Abu Dharr said, 'I said: "O Messenger
of Allaah, why the black dog rather
than the red one?" He said, The
black dog is a shaytaan.56
He
used to forbid prayer facing the
grave, saying: Do not pray towards
the graves, and do not sit on them.57