SECTION ON PRAYER · 75 – PLACES WHERE THE CONGREGATION IS ORDERED TO FOLLOW THE IMAM
Mu'awiya, the son of Abu Sufyan, related:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Do not pass me in rukū’ and prostration; whenever I am in rukū’, you overtake me, and when I rise, you catch up with me. Indeed, I have grown old.” [402]
Abū Isḥāq, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I listened to ʿAbdullāh ibn Yazīd addressing the people. He said: He narrated to me from Bērā’. Bērā’ is not a liar. They would raise their heads from rukūʿ along with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and stand on their feet (waiting) until they saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, prostrate; then they would prostrate. [403]
Berâ ibn Azib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: We would pray behind the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and no one among us would bend his back until he saw the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prostrate.
Muharib ibn Disar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
I heard Abdullah ibn Yazid on the pulpit saying:
Bara informed me that they used to pray with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him). When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) would go into ruku’, they would also go into ruku’. And they would remain standing until they saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) place his forehead on the ground when he said, “Semiallahu liman hamidah,” then they would follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him).
Sümame says, "I used to interlock my fingers, and I found him in that state. He forbade me from doing so. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, 'Let not he among you who observes proper manners with his ablution and intends to visit the mosque, interlock his fingers while on his way. For such a person is as if he were in prayer.'" [372]
564 – From Abu Hurairah (RA) narrated: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Whoever performs ablution with its conditions and then goes to the mosque, finds the congregation praying, then Allah gives him reward equivalent to that of those who have performed the prayer and are present in the prayer, without diminishing anything from their reward." [373]
566 – From Ibn Umar (RA): The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Do not forbid the female servants of Allah from the mosques." [374]
The son of Abdullah ibn Umar said, “By Allah, we will not allow women to go to the mosque. For women turn mosques into places of corruption. By Allah, we will not allow them.” Thereupon he rebuked him severely and spoke harshly to him. He said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say [allow them], but you say [we will not allow]?" [375]
The narrator Yahya said: I asked Amr, “Were the women of the Children of Israel prevented from their place of worship?” Amr replied, "(Yes)." [376]
Ibn Mas'ud narrated from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that Abu Katada and Anas narrated from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and they all said, "Complete what you have begun." [377]
575 – It is narrated from Jabir bin Yazid bin al-Awsad that when he was still a young man, he prayed with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then saw two men who had not joined the congregation. He called them and they were brought. Their joints were trembling out of fear (of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to them, "What prevented you from joining us in prayer?" They replied, “We performed it at our home.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to them, "Do not do that again. Whoever prays at home should pray with the congregation, for what he prays with the Imam is supererogatory for him." [378]
I prayed Fajr prayer with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in Mina, and then narrated a hadith with the same meaning. [379]
“If someone leads a group (in prayer), and he hits the time, then his reward is that of the person and the congregation. If something is missed from the prayer, the sin is on the Imam and not on the congregation.” [380]
“Among the signs of the Hour is that the people of the mosque will compete to be ahead (in rows), and they will not find an Imam to lead them in prayer." [381]
Shu'ba said: I asked Ismail, "What does 'repetition' mean?" He replied, “It is the bed of a person.” [382]
Abū Dāwūd said: Yahya al-Kattān transmitted from Shu’ba, “Those most senior in recitation [are] more deserving of the imamate.” [383]
We were in a settlement located on the road that the people of the community used to visit and return from visiting the Prophet, peace be upon him. As they returned from their visits, they would report to us what the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said. And I was a memorizer of the Qur’an as a boy, so I memorized many passages. My father had gone with a delegation from his tribe to the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, as an emissary.
The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, taught them prayer and said, “Let those among you who know the Qur’an most be the imam.” Because I memorized many passages of the Qur'an, I was the one who knew it best among them. They made me the imam. I used to lead them in prayer wearing a small, yellow cloak upon me. When I prostrated, my cloak would shift. One of the women said, “Let us cover your private parts, O Imam!” So they bought me a shirt of Uman cloth. After becoming Muslim, I never rejoiced in anything as much as I did with that shirt. That is how I used to lead them in prayer when I was seven or eight years old.” [384]
588 – On the authority of Ibn ‘Umar, may God be pleased with him, he said: When those who migrated first arrived in Medina, they descended upon Asba (in Kuba) before the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, came. There, Salim, the slave of Abu Hurayfa, led them in prayer because he knew the Qur’an more than anyone else among them. Haytham added, including ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab and Abu Salama ibn Abd al-Asad. [385]
– “Let those who are best among you be the mu'adhdhin (caller to prayer). And let those of you who know the Qur’an best be the imam.” [386]
“It is not permissible for a person to be an imam for people who do not love him, for a man who comes late to the prayer, or for a man who uses a freed slave as a slave.” [387]
– “Whoever visits a tribe (people of a region), let him not be their imam. Let one of them be their imam.” [388]
Mu’adh, may God be pleased with him, would pray with the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, and turn back with him (in the same prayer) and lead his tribe in prayer. [389]
– “The imam is only appointed to be followed. When he stands, you stand; when he makes a bow, you make a bow; when he rises, you rise. And when he says, ‘All praise is due to God,’ you say, ‘Our Lord, all praise is yours.’ And when the imam sits, you all sit.” [390]
– “When the imam sits, you sit with him. When he stands, you stand with him. Do not do as the people of Persia do with their nobles,” [391]
Abū Dāwūd says: Be silent when the imam recites; what is beyond that is not safe. This error is from Abu Khalid. [392]
605 – A’isha, may God be pleased with her, related: The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, prayed sitting in his home. A congregation stood behind him. He gestured to them to sit. When he finished the prayer, he said, “The imam is appointed to be followed. When he makes a bow, you make a bow; when he rises from the bow, you rise; and when he sits, you sit.” [393]
The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, became ill. We prayed with the Prophet sitting. Abu Bakr would give the takbir to the congregation so they could hear the Messenger of God’s, peace be upon him, takbir. Then the narrator transmitted the hadith. [394]
The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, led him and a woman from among them in prayer. He placed Anas on his right and the woman behind him. [395]
I slept at my aunt Maymuna’s house. In the middle of the night, the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, got up. He untied the thawb and performed ablution. Then he tied the mouth of the thawb and stood for prayer. I got up too. I performed ablution as he did. Then I came and stood on his left side. He took me by his right hand and turned me around to place me on his right side. And I prayed with the Messenger of God, peace be upon him. [396]
I immediately got up. We had a mat that was dark from much use. I washed it with water. The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, stood upon it. A young orphan and I were in the same row behind him. And an elderly woman stood behind us. The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, led us in two rak'ahs. Then the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, finished the prayer. [397]
We sat at his door for a while. A slave girl came out and asked Abdullah for permission regarding them. Abdullah gave them permission. Then he got up and prayed behind me with him. And I saw that the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, did it like that.” [398]
I prayed behind the Messenger of God, peace be upon him. When he finished the prayer, he would turn his face towards us. [399]
We used to stand on his right so that he would turn his face towards us when he finished praying behind the Messenger of God, peace be upon him. [400]
The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said: “The key to prayer is purity; the prohibition (of what is permissible) in prayer is the takbir; and the declaration (of permissibility) is the greeting.” [401]
The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said: "Do not precede me in bowing or prostration. For whenever I am in a bow, you catch up to me when you rise. For I have grown old." [402]
I heard Hutham bin Yazid addressing the people. He related that Bera told it to him. Bera is not a liar. They would stand on their feet when they rose with the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, from the bow.
621 – Berâ (bin Azib) (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We used to pray behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). No one would bend his back until he saw the Prophet (ﷺ) prostrate. [404]