Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “The imam is appointed only to be followed, so when he says the takbir, say it also; and when he recites, listen silently.”
‘Abdallah b. Abu Aufa told of a man who came to the Prophet and said, “I am unable to learn any of the Qur’an, so teach me something which will suffice me.” He told him to say, “Glory be to God; Praise be to God; There is no god but God; God is most great; There is no might and no power except in God.” He said, “Messenger of God, this is for God; but what is there for me?” He told him to say, “O God, have mercy on me, heal me, guide me, and provide for me.” He said that the man clenched his hands, whereupon God’s Messenger said, “This man has filled his hands with good.”
Abu Dawud transmitted it, and Nasa’i’s transmission finished with “except in God.”
Narrated Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying:
When one of you recites, "By the fig and the olive”1 and comes to "Is not God the best of judges?”2 he should say, "Certainly, and I am one of those who testify to that.” When one recites, "I swear by the day of resurrection”3 and comes to "Is not that One able to raise the dead to life?’4 he should say, "Certainly.” And when one recites, "By those that are sent”5 and comes to "Then in what message after that will they believe?”6 he should say, "We believe in God.”
Narrated Jabir said that God’s Messenger came out to his companions and recited to them Sura ar-Rahman1 from beginning to end, but they remained silent. He then said:
I have recited it to the jinn on the night they came to me, 2 and they responded better than you. As often as I came to the words, "Then which of the favours of your Lord do you deny?” they replied, "We deny none of Thy favours, O our Lord. To Thee be the praise.”
1. Al-Qur’an; 55.
2. When the Prophet was returning to Mecca after being rejected by the people of at-Ta’if.
Tirmidhi transmitted it and said this is a gharib tradition.
Mu'adh b. ‘Abdallah. al-Juhani said that a man of Juhaina told him he had heard God’s Messenger reciting "When the earth is shaken”(Al-Qur’an; 99) in both rak'as of the morning prayer, but did not know whether he had forgotten, or whether he recited it on purpose.
Al-Farafisa b. 'Umair al-Hanafi said that he learned Sura Yusuf (Al-Qur’an; 12) simply from the recitation of it by ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan in the morning prayer, owing to the great number of times he repeated it.
‘Amir b. Rabi'a said that they prayed the morning prayer behind ‘Umar b. al-Khattab and that he recited slowly in both rak'as Sura Yusuf and Sura al-Hajj (Al-Qur’an; 22). When someone remarked that he must have begun the prayer at break of day he replied that that was so.
‘Amr b. Shu'aib on his father’s authority quoted his grandfather as saying, “There is no short or long sura in al-Mufassal* which I have not heard God’s Messenger reciting when he led the people in the prescribed prayer.”
* A name applied to the latter part of the Qur’an because there are many divisions, but opinions differ about where it begins. Lane mentions the different views in his Lexicon, pp 2407 f., saying the most correct opinion is that it begins with sura 49.
Al-Bara,’ said that the bowing observed by the Prophet, his prostration, his sitting between the two sajdas, and when he raised his head after bowing, but not the standing and the sitting [when saying the shahada, were nearly equal.
When the Prophet said, “God listens to him who praises Him,” he stood so long that we thought he had omitted something; then he would prostrate himself and sit between the sajdas so long that we thought he had omitted something.
‘A’isha told how the Prophet often said while bowing and prostrating himself, “Glory be to Thee, O God, our Lord, and praise be to Thee. O God, forgive me," thus complying with the the Qur’an (Al-Qur’an; 110-3).
Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s Messenger as saying, “I have been prohibited to recite the Qur’an when bowing or prostrating myself; so when bowing magnify the Lord, and when prostrating yourselves be earnest in supplication, for it is fitting that your supplications should be answered.’’
Narrated Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying:
When the imam says, “God listens to him who praises Him," say, “O God, our Lord, to Thee be the praise for if what anyone says synchronises with what the angels say, he will be forgiven his past sins.
‘Abdallah b. Abu Aufa said that when God’s Messenger raised his back after bowing he said, “God listens to him who praises Him. O God, our Lord, to Thee be the praise in all the heavens and all the earth, and all that it pleases Thee to create afterwards.”
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said that when God’s Messenger raised his head after bowing he said, “O God, our Lord, to Thee be the praise in all the heavens and all the earth, and all that it pleases Thee to create afterwards, O Thou who art worthy of praise and glory, most worthy of what a servant says, and we are all Thy servants, no one can withhold what Thou givest or give what Thou withholdest, and riches cannot avail a wealthy person with Thee.”*
* This is explained as meaning that only obedience to God will avail him, or protect him from God’s punishment. Jadd (riches) has also been understood in the sense of ancestor (lit. grandfather), so the phrase may be taken to mean that one’s reward in the next world does dot depend on one’s ancestry.
