Sahih Muslim

Muhammad b. 'Amr b. al-Hasan b. 'All reported:When Hajjaj came to Medina we asked Jabir b. Abdullah (about the timings of prayer as observed by the Holy Prophet). He said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray afternoon prayer in the midday heat; the afternoon prayer when the sun was bright; the evening prayer when the sun had completely set; and as for the night prayer, he sometimes delayed and sometimes (observed it) at earlier hours. When he found them (his Companions) assembled (at earlier hours) he (prayed) early. and when he saw them coming late, he delayed the (prayer). and the morning prayer the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed in the darkness before dawn

Muhammad b. 'Amr al-Hasan b. 'All reported:Hajjaj used to delay the prayers, and so we asked Jabir b. 'Abdullah, and the rest of the hadith is the same

Sayyar b. Salama reported:I heard my father asking Abu Barza (al- Aslami) about the prayer of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I (Shu'ba, one of the narrators) said: Did you hear it (from Abu Barza)? He said: 1 feel as if I am bearing you at this very time. He said: I heard my father asking about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he (Abu Barza) making this reply: He (the Holy Prophet) did not mind delaying-some (prayer) i. e. 'Isya' prayer, even up to the midnight and did not like sleeping before observing it, and talking after it. Shu'ba said: I met him subsequently and asked him (about the prayers of the Holy Prophet) and he said: He observed the noon prayer when the sun was past the meridian, he would pray the afternoon prayer, after which a person would o to the outskirts of Medina and the sun was still bright; (I forgot what he said about the evening prayer) ; I then met him on a subsequent occasion and asked him (about the prayers of the Holy Prophet; and he said: He would observe the morning prayer (at such a time) so that a man would go back and would recognise his neighbour by casting a glance at his face, and he would recite from sixty to one hundred verses in it

Sayyar b. Salama reported:I heard Abu Barza saying that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not mind some delay in the 'Isha' prayer even up to midnight and he did not like sleeping before (observing it) and talking after it. Shu'ba said: I again met him (Sayyar b. Salama) for the second time and he said: Even up to the third (part) of the night

Abu Barza b. Aslami is reported to have said:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) delayed the night prayer till a third of the night had passed and he did not approve of sleeping before it, and talking after it, and he used to recite in the morning prayer from one hundred to sixty verses (and completed the prayer at such hours) when we recognised the faces of one another

Abu Dharr reported:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: How would you act when you are under the rulers who would delay the prayer beyond its prescribed time, or they would make prayer a dead thing as far as its proper time is concerned? I said: What do you command? He (the Holy Prophet) said: Observe the prayer at Its proper time, and if you can say it along with them do so, for it would be a superetogatory prayer for you. Khalaf (one of the narrators in the above hadith) has not mentioned" beyond their (prescribed) time

Abu Dharr reported:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: O Abu Dharr, you would soon find after me rulers who would make their prayers dead. You should say prayer at its prescribed time. If you say prayer at its prescribed time that would be a supererogatory prayer for you, otherwise you saved your prayer

Abu Dharr reported:My friend (the Holy Prophet) bade me to hear and obey (the ruler) even if he is a slave having his feet and arms cut off, and observe prayer at its prescribed time. (And further said): It you find people having observed the prayer, you in fact saved your prayer, otherwise (if you join with them) that would be a Nafl prayer for you

Abu Dharr reported:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) struck my thigh and said: How would you act if you survive among the people who would delay prayers beyond their (prescribed) time? He (Abu Dharr) said: What do you command (under this situation)? He (the Holy Prophet) slid: Observe prayer at its prescribed time, then go (to meet) your needs, and if the Iqama is pronounced, and you are present in the mosque, then observe prayer (along with the Jama'at)

Abu'l-'Aliyat al-Bara reported:Ibn Ziyad delayed the prayer. 'Abdullah b. Samit came to me and I placed a chair for him and he sat in it and I made a mention of whit Ibn Ziyad had done. He bit hit lips (as a sign of extreme anger and annoyance) and struck at my thigh and said: I asked Abu Dharr as you have asked me, and he struck my thigh just as I have struck your thigh, and said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as you have asked me and he struck my thigh just as I have struck your thigh, and he (the Holy Prophet) said: Observe prayer at its prescribed time, and if you can say prayer along with them. do so, and do not say." I have observed prayer and so I shall not pray

Abu Dharr reported:(The Messenger of Allah) said: How would you, or how would thou, act if you survive to live among people who defer prayer beyond the (prescribed) time? (The narrator said: Allah and His Messenger know best). whereupon he said: Observe prayer at its prescribed time, but if the Iqama is pronounced for (congregational) prayer, then observe prayer along with them. for herein is an excess of virtue

Abu'l-'Aliyat al-Bara' reported:I said to 'Abdullah b. Samit: We say our Jumu'a prayer behind those rulers who defer the prayer. He ('Abdullah b. Samit), struck. my thigh that I felt pain and said: I asked Abu Dharr about it, he struck my thigh and said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about it. Upon this he said: Observe prayer at its prescribed time, and treat prayer along with them (along with those Imams who deter prayer) as Nafl. 'Abdullah said: It was narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) struck the thigh of Abd Dharr

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:Prayer said in a congregation is twenty-five degrees more excellent than prayer said by a single person

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying:Prayer said in a congregation is twenty-five degrees more excellent than prayer said by a single person. He (Abu Huraira further) said: The angels of the night and the angels of the day meet together. Abu Huraira said: Recite it you like:" Surely the recital of the Qur'an at dawn is witnessed" (al-Qur'an, xvii)

A hadith like this has been narrated by Abu Huraira with another chain of transmitters with a very slight change of words

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:Prayer said in a congregation is equivalent to twenty-five (prayers) as compared with the prayer said by a single person

Abu Huraira reported:The Messenger of Allah (way peace be upon him) said: Prayer along with the Imam is twenty-five times more excellent than prayer said by a single person

Ibn Umar reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) assaying:Prayer said in a congregation is twenty-seven degrees more excellent than prayer said by a single person

Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying:The prayer of a person in congregation is twenty-seven times in excess to the prayer said alone

Ibn Numair reported it on the authority of his father (a preference of) more than twenty (degrees) and Abu Bakr in his narration (has narrated it) twenty- seven degrees

Ibn 'Umar reported from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as some and twenty (degrees)

Abu Huraira reported:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) found some people absenting from certain prayers and he said: I intend that I order (a) person to lead people in prayer, and then go to the persons who do not join the (congregational prayer) and then order their houses to be burnt by the bundles of fuel. If one amongst them were to know that he would find a fat fleshy bone he would attend the night prayer

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:The most burdensome prayers for the hypocrites are the night prayer and the morning prayer. If they were to know the blessings they have in store, they would have come to them, even though crawling, and I thought that I should order the prayer to be commenced and command a person to lead people in prayer, and I should then go along with some persons having a fagot of fuel with them to the people who have not attended the prayer (in congregation) and would burn their houses with fire

Hammam b. Munabbih reported:This is what Abu Huraira reported to us from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and (in this connection) he narrated some ahadith, one of them is: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I intend that I should command my young men to gather bundles fuel for me, and then order a person to lead people in prayer, and then burn the houses with their inmates (who have not joined the congregation)

A hadith like this has been narrated by Abu Huraira

Abdullah reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying about people who are absent from Jumu'a prayer:I intend that I should command a person to lead people in prayer, and then burn those persons who absent themselves from Jumu'a prayer in their houses

Abu Huraira reported:There came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) a blind man and said: Messenger of Allah, I have no one to guide me to the mosque. He, therefore, asked. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) permission to say prayer in his house. He (tee Holy Prophet) granted him permission. Then when the man turned away he called him and said: Do you hear the call to prayer? He said: Yes. He (the Prophet then) said: Respond to it

Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported:I have seen the time when no one stayed away from prayer except a hypocrite, whose hypocrisy was well known, or a sick man, but if a sick man could walk between two persons (i.e. with the help of two persons with one on each side) he would come to prayer. And (further) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught us the paths of right guidance, among which is prayer in the mosque in which the Adhan is called

Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported:He who likes to meet Allah tomorrow as Muslim, he should persevere in observing these prayers, when a call is announced for them, for Allah has laid down for your Prophet the paths of right guidance, and these (prayers) are among the paths of right guidance. If you were to pray in your houses as this man why stays away (from the mosque) prays in his house, you would abandon the practice of your Prophet, and if you were to abandon the practice of your Prophet, you would go astray. No man purifies himself, doing it well, then makes for one of those mosques without Allah recording a blessing for him for every step he takes raising him a degree for it, and effacing a sin from him for it. I have seen the time when no one stayed away from it, except a hypocrite, who was well known for his hypocrisy, whereas a man would be brought swaying (due to weakness) between two men till he was set up in a row

Abu Sha'tha' reported:While we were sitting with Abu Huraira in a mosque a man went out of the mosque after the call to prayer had been announced. (A man stood up in the mosque and set off.) Abu Huraira's eyes followed him till he went out of the mosque. Upon this Abu Huraira said: This man has disobeyed Abu'l- Qasim (Muhammad) (ﷺ)

Abu Sha'tha' al-Muharibi reported on the authority of his father, who said:I heard it from Abu Huraira that he saw a person getting out of the mosque after the call to prayer had been announced. Upon this he remarked: This (man) disobeyed Abu'l-Qasim (ﷺ)

Abd al-Rahman b. Abd 'Amr reported:'Uthman b. 'Affan (narrated the mosque after evening prayer and sat alone. I also sat alone with him, so he said: 0, son of my brother, I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: He who observed the 'Isha' prayer in congregation, it was as if he prayed up to midnight, and he who prayed the morning prayer in congregation, it was as if he prayed the whole night

This hadith has been narrated by the chain of transmitters by Abu Sahl 'Uthman b. Hakim

Jundab b. 'Abdullah reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:He who prayed the morning prayer (in congregation) he is in fact under the protection of Allah. And it can never happen that Allah should demand anything from you in connection with the protection (that He guarantees) and one should not get it. He would then throw him in the fire of Hell

Anas b. Sirin reported:I heard Jundab b. Qasri saying that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: He who observed the morning prayer (in congregation), he is in fact under the protection of Allah and it never happens that Allah should make a demand in connection with the protection (that He guarantees and should not get it) for when he asks for anything in relation to His protection, he definitely secures it. He then throws him flatly in the Hell-fire

This hadith has been narrated by Jundab b. Sufyan in from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) with the same chain of transmitters, but this has not been mentioned:" He would throw him in fire

Mahmud b. al-Rabi' reported that 'Ibn b. Malik, who was one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and who participated in the (Battle of) Badr and was among the Ansar (of Medina), told that he came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said:Messenger of Allah, I have lost my eyesight and I lead my people in prayer. When there is a downpour there is then a current (of water) in the valley that stands between me and them and I find it impossible to go to their mosque and lead them in prayer. Messenger of Allah, I earnestly beg of you that you should come and observe prayer at a place of worship (in my house) so that I should then use it as a place of worship. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Well, it God so wills. I would soon do so. 'Itban said: On the following day when the day dawned, the Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him) came along with Abu Bakr at-Siddiq, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked permission (to get into the house). I gave him the permission, and be did not sit after entering the house, when he said: At what place in your house you desire me to say prayer? I ('Itban b. Malik) said: I pointed to a corner in the house, The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood (at that place for prayer) and pronounced Allah-o-Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) (as an expression for the commencement of prayer). We too stood behind him, and he said two rak'ahs and then pronounced salutation (marking the end of the prayer). We detained him (the Holy Prophet) for the meat curry we had prepared for, him. The people of the neighbouring houses came and thus there was a good gathering in (our house). One of them said: Where is Malik b. Dukhshun? Upon this one of them remarked: He is a hypocrite; he does not love Allah and His Messenger. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Do not say so about him. Don't you see that he utters La ilaha ill-Allah (There is no god but Allah) and seeks the pleasure of Allah through it? They said: Allah and His Messenger know beet. One (among the audience) said: We see his inclination and wellwishing for hypocrites only. Upon this the Messenger of Allah' (ﷺ) again said: Verily Allah has forbidden the Fire for one who says: There is no god but Allah, thereby seeking Allah's pleasure. Ibn Shihab said: I asked Husain b. Muhammad al-Ansar (he was one of the leaders of Banu Salim) about the hadith transmitted by Mahmud b. Rabi' and he testified it

Itban b. Malik reported:I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the rest of the hadith is the same as narrated (above) except this that a man said: Where is Malik b. Dukhshun or Dukhaishin, and also made this addition that Mahmud said: I narrated this ver hadith to many people and among them was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari who said: I cannot think that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) could have said so as you say. He (the narrator) said: I took an oath that if I ever go to 'Itban. I would ask him about it. So I went to him and found him to be a very aged man, having lost his eyesight, but he was the Imam of the people. I sat by his side and asked about this hadith and he narrated it In the same way as he had narrated it for the first time. Then so many other obligatory acts and commands were revealed which we see having been completed. So he who wants that he should not be deceived would not be deceived

Mahmud b. Rabi' reported:I well remember the disgorge of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that he did (with water) from a bucket of our house. Mahmud said: 'Itban b. Malik narrated it to me that he had said: Messenger of Allah, I have lost my eyesight, and the rest of the hadith is the same up to these words:" He led us in two rak'ahs of prayer and we detained the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for serving him the pudding that we had prepared for him," and no mention has been made of what follows next from the addition made by Yunus and Ma'mar

Anas b. Malik reported that his grandmother, Mulaika, invited the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to a dinner which she had prepared. He (the Holy Prophet) ate out of that and then said:Stand up so that I should observe prayer (in order to bless) you Anas b. Malik said: I stood up on a mat (belonging to us) which had turned dark on account of its long use. I sprinkled water over it (in order to soften it), and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood upon it, and I and an orphan formed a row behind him (the Holy Prophet) and the old woman was behind us, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led us in two rak'ahs of prayer and then went back

Anas b. Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wits the best among people in character. On occasions, the time of prayer would come while he was in our house. He would then order to spread the mat lying under him. That was dusted and then water was sprinkled over it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then led the prayer and we stood behind him, and that mat was made of the leaves of date-palm

Thabit reported on the authority of Anas:The Apostle of Allah (ﷺ) came to us and there was none in our house but I, my mother and my aunt Umm Haram. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Stand up so that I may lead you in prayer (and there was no time for prescribed prayer). He led us in prayer. A person said to Thabit: Where stood Anas with him (the Holy Prophet)? He replied: He was on the right side. He then blessed us, the members of the household with every good of this world and of the Hereafter. My mother said: Messenger of Allah (and then, pointing towards Anas, said), here is your little servant, invoke the blessing of Allah upon him too. He then blessed me with every good, and he concluded his blessings for me (with these words): Allah! increase his wealth, and his children and make (them the source of) blessing for him

Abdullah b. al-Mukhtar heard Musa b. Anas narrating on the authority of Anas b. Malik that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led him, his mother or his aunt in prayer. He made me, stand on his right side and made the woman stand, behind us

This hadith has also been narrated by Shu'ba with this chain of transmitters

Maimuna, the wife of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), reported:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said prayer while I was by his side, and at times when he prostrated his cloth touched me, and he prayed on a small mat

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that he went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and found him observing prayer on a mat and prostrating on that

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:A man's prayer in congregation is more valuable than twenty degrees and some above them as compared with his prayer in his house and his market, for when he performs ablution doing it well, then goes out to the mosque, and he is impelled (to do so) only by (the love of congregational) prayer, he has no other objective before him but prayer. He does not take a step without being raised a degree for it and having a sin remitted for it, till he enters the mosque, and when he is busy in prayer after having entered the mosque. the angels continue to invoke blessing on him as long as he is in his place of worship. saying: O Allah, show him mercy, and pardon him! Accept his repentance (and the angels continue this supplication for him) so long as he does not do any harm in it, or as long as his ablution is not broken

A hadith having the same meaning (as mentioned above) has been transmitted by A'mash

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:The angels invoke blessings on everyone among you so long as he is in a place of worship with these words: O Allah! pardon him, O Allah, have mercy upon him, (and they continue to do so) as long as, he ablution (of the worshipper) is not broken, and one among you is in prayer and so long as he is detained for the prayer

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:The servant is constantly in prayer so long as he is in a place of worship waiting for the prayer (to be observed in congregation), and the angels invoke (blessings upon him in these words): O Allah! pardon him. O Allah! show mercy to him, (and they continue to do so) till he returns (from the mosque having completed the prayer) or his ablution breaks. I said: How is the ablution broken? He said: By breaking of the wind noiselessly or with noise