In the Name of Allaah, the Merciful, the
Bestower of Mercy
Praise be to Allaah, who made
Prayer compulsory on his slaves and ordered them to
establish it and perform it well; who linked success and
felicity to humility in Prayer; who made it the
criterion to distinguish between Eeman and Kufr ; and
who made it a restrainer from shameful and unjust deeds.
Prayers and peace be upon our
Prophet Muhammad, who was addressed in the Words of the
Exalted:
"And We have sent down to you the Message,
that you may explain clearly to the people what is sent
for them"1,
and who fully carried out
this task. The Prayer was one of the most important
things which he explained to the people, verbally and
practically, even praying on the pulpit once - standing,
bowing and prostrating, and then saying to them, I
have done this so that you may follow me and learn my
prayer.2
He obligated us to copy him in his prayer, saying,
Pray as you have seen me praying.3
He also gave the good tidings to whoever prayed like him
that such a person has a covenant with Allaah that He
will enter him into the Garden, saying, There are
five prayers which Allaah, Mighty and Sublime, has made
compulsory: he who performs ablution well for them,
prays them at their proper times, and is complete in
their bowings, prostrations and humility, he has a
guarantee from Allaah that He will forgive him; but he
who does not do so, has no guarantee from Allaah: if He
wishes, He will forgive him or if He wishes, He will
punish him.4
Prayers and peace be also on his
family and his pious and just Companions, who passed on
to us his worship, prayer, sayings and actions
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), and who made these, and
these alone, a Madhhab and a path for them to follow;
and also on those who follow in their footsteps and
tread their path until the Day of Judgment.
When I finished reading the book of
prayer in At-Targheeb wat-Tarheeb by al-Haafiz
al-Mundhiri (rahimahullaah) and teaching it to our
brothers, four years ago, it became clear to us all the
important position of the Prayer in Islaam; and the
reward, grace and respect awaiting those who establish
and perform it well; and that all this varies, depending
on its closeness to the Prophet's prayer (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam). This is what he indicated in his
saying, Verily the slave prays a prayer of which
nothing is written down for him except a tenth, ninth,
eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, quarter, third or half of
it.5
Therefore, I reminded the brothers that it is not
possible for us to perform prayer as it should be
performed, or even approach that, unless we know the
detailed description of the Prophet's prayer
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), including its
essentials, manners, forms, supplications (du'aas) and
remembrances (adhkaar), and then we make an effort to
put that knowledge into practice carefully, for then we
could hope that our prayers would restrain us from
shameful and unjust deeds, and that the reward and
blessings mentioned in the narrations would be written
down for us.
However, detailed familiarity with
all these aspects of prayer is unlikely to be achieved
by most people nowadays, even many scholars, because of
their limiting themselves to a particular Madhhab. But,
as anyone concerned with assisting in compiling and
studying the purified Sunnah knows, in every Madhhab
there are sunnahs which are not found in other Madhhabs;
moreover, in every Madhhab there are sayings and actions
which cannot be authentically traced back to the Prophet
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) - most of these are
found in the sayings of the later scholars6,
many of whom we see firmly attributing these to the
Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)!7
This is why the scholars of Hadeeth - may Allaah reward
them well - have produced books of Takhreej on the
famous books of the later scholars, explaining the rank
of each hadeeth given in them: whether e.g. authentic,
weak or fabricated. Examples of these books of Takhreej
are: Al-'Inaayah fi Ma'rifah Ahaadeeth al- Hidaayah and
At-Turuq wal-Wasaa'il fi Takhreej Ahaadeeth Khulaasah
ad-Dalaa'il by Shaikh 'Abdul Qaadir ibn Muhammad al-
Qurashi al-Hanafi; Nasb ar-Raayah li Ahaadeeth
al-Hidaayah by Haafiz Zayla'i, and its abridged version
ad-Dirayah by Haafiz Ibn Hajr al-Asqalaani, who also
wrote Talkhees al-Habeer fi Takhreej Ahaadeeth
ar-Raafi'i al-Kabir; there are many others, naming which
will only lengthen this discussion.8
Since I had not come across a comprehensive book
covering this topic, I felt obliged to produce a book
which collected together as many features of the
Prophet's prayer (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) from
the takbeer to the tasleem as possible, for the benefit
of my Muslim brothers who wished to follow the guidance
of their Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) in
their worship, such that it would be easy for any who
truly loved the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
to use this book to fulfil his command, "Pray as you
have seen me praying."
Thus
I embarked on a difficult task, and researched the
relevant ahaadeeth from the various sources of Hadeeth,
the book in your hands being the end result of it all. I
stipulated on myself that I would only give ahaadeeth
which had an authentic sanad according to the principles
and regulations of the science of Hadeeth. I disregarded
any hadeeth which depended on unknown or weak narrators,
whether it dealt with the outward form, adhkaar,
excellence, etc. of the Prayer. This is because I hold
that the authentic ahadeeth9
are sufficient, leaving no need for anything weak, for
the latter does not amount to anything except zann
(conjecture, suspicion), and incorrect conjecture at
that; as the Exalted says:
"... And
conjecture is of no use against the
truth"10
and
the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said,
Beware of suspicion, for truly, suspicion is the most
false of speech.11
Therefore, we cannot worship Allaah by acting according
to inauthentic ahaadeeth; in fact, the Messenger of
Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) forbade us from
this saying, Keep away from saying things about me,
except what you know12;
since he has forbidden us from relating weak narrations,
it goes without saying that it is forbidden to act
according to them.
I
have compiled the book as two texts: the main text and
the subsidiary text.
The
main text includes the text of ahaadeeth or phrases
taken from them, as well as appropriate words to string
them together to give the book a fluency from start to
finish. I have been careful to preserve the text of each
hadeeth as it is found in the books of Sunnah; where a
hadeeth has different wordings, I have chosen the
version which best fits the fluency etc., but I have
brought together other wordings thus: "(in one version:
... )" or "(in one narration: ...)". Only rarely have I
given the Companion who narrated the hadeeth, or
explained in the main text which of the Imaams of
Hadeeth have collected each hadeeth, in order to provide
easier reading and reference.
As
for the subsidiary text, it is a commentary on the main
text. In it I have traced the ahaadeeth to their
sources, exploring their various versions and routes of
narration. Along with this, I have commented on their
isnaads and supporting narrations, with authenticating
and disparaging remarks on narrators, whether authentic
or weak, judged according to the rules of the science of
Hadeeth. Often, one route of narration has additional
words which are not found in other routes, so I have
inserted these into the original hadeeth in the main
text whenever it is possible to do so without destroying
the fluency, enclosing the addition in square brackets:
[...], usually without stating which of the sources were
alone in containing that addition. This has been done
only if the hadeeth is originally on the authority of
the same Companion, otherwise I have given it
separately, e.g. in the opening supplications etc. This
insertion of additional wordings is a tremendous
advantage which you will not find in many books - Praise
be to Allaah, by Whose Favour good actions are
completed.
Next, I have mentioned in the subsidiary text the
madhhabs of the scholars regarding the hadeeth traced,
as well as the evidence and counter-evidence for each
view, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each
argument. We have then selected out of that the correct
view which we have given in the main text. Also in the
subsidiary text, we have given some issues for which
there is no text in the Sunnah, but which require
ijtihaad, and do not come under the title of this
book.
Since the publication of this book with both main
and subsidiary texts is not feasible right now due to
various reasons, we have decided to publish only the
main text of the book (along with brief footnotes) by
Allaah's Will, and named it "Sifah Salaah an-Nabi
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), min at-takbeer ilaa
at-tasleem ka'annaka taraahaa (The Prophet's Prayer
Described, from beginning to end, as though you were
watching it)".
I
ask Allaah to make this work sincerely for His Face, and
to help my brothers in faith to benefit from it, for He
is the Hearer, the Answerer.
Since the purpose of this book is to convey the
guidance of the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
regarding Prayer, it was elementary that I would not
limit myself to a particular Madhhab, for the reasons
mentioned previously. Therefore, I would give whatever
is authentically proved from him (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam), as has always been the way of the scholars of
Hadeeth13,
whether of old or of the recent past14,
as the excellent saying goes:
The
People of Hadeeth are the People of the Messenger,
although They accompany him not, they are with his every
movement.15
Thus
this book would, Allaah Willing, gather whatever is
relevant to each topic from the various contents of the
books of Hadeeth and the books on the differences
between the Madhhabs, such that the correct verdicts
found in this book would not be found totally in any one
Madhhab. Hence the one acting on it, Allaah Willing,
would be among those whom Allaah had guided
"by His Grace to the Truth
concerning that in which they differed, for Allaah
guides whom He will to a path that is
straight."16
When
I adopted these principles for myself, i.e. to adhere to
the authentic Sunnah, and to implement them in this book
as well as others, I knew for sure that this would not
satisfy every group of people or sect; in fact, it would
result in some, if not most of them, insulting or
criticising me. This does not matter to me, for I also
know that to please everyone is an unattainable notion,
and that "He who pleases the people by angering
Allaah, Allaah will entrust him to the people", as
the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
said.17
The reward is with Allaah for the author of the
following lines:
Nor
could I ever escape from abuse, Even were I in a cave in
a rugged mountain; For who can escape from the people
unharmed, Even if he hides behind the eagle's
wings?
It
is enough for me that I believe that this is the most
upright way, which Allaah has commanded the believers to
take; which our Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam), Chief of the Messengers, has explained. This is
the path which was trodden by the Pious Predecessors:
the Companions, their Successors and those after them,
including the four Imaams to whose Madhhabs the majority
of Muslims today attribute themselves. All of them were
agreed on the obligation to stick to the Sunnah and to
refer to it; to ignore every view contradictory to it,
no matter how great the holder or propounder of that
view, for the status of the Messenger of Allaah
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) is far greater, and his
example is far truer. Because of this, I have acted on
their guidance, followed in their footsteps and carried
out their commands to stick to the authentic hadeeth,
even if this opposes their view. These commands of
theirs have influenced me greatly in my perusal of this
path, and my rejection of blind taqleed (following of
opinion). I ask Allaah Exalted to reward them greatly.
It
would be beneficial if we gave some of these here, for
perhaps this will admonish or remind those who follow
the opinion of the Imaams - nay, of those far below the
Imaams in rank - blindly18,
sticking to their madhhabs or views as if these had
descended from the heavens! But Allaah, Mighty and
Sublime, says:
"Follow (O men!) the revelation given to
you from your Lord, and follow not, as friends and
protectors, other than Him. Little is it you remember of
admonition."19
The
first of them is Abu Haneefah Nu'maan ibn Thaabit, whose
companions have narrated from him various sayings and
diverse warnings, all of them leading to one thing: the
obligation to accept the Hadeeth, and to give up
following the opinions of the imaams which contradict
it:
1.
"When a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, then that is my
madhhab."20
2.
"It is not permitted21
for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from
where we got them."22
In
one narration, "It is prohibited23
for someone who does not know my evidence to give
verdicts24
on the basis of my words."
Another narration adds, "... for we are mortals:
we say one thing one day, and take it back the next
day."
In
another narration, "Woe to you, O Ya'qub25!
Do not write down everything you hear from me, for it
happens that I hold one opinion today and reject it
tomorrow, or hold one opinion tomorrow and reject it the
day after tomorrow."26
3.
"When I say something contradicting the Book of Allaah
the Exalted or what is narrated from the Messenger
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), then ignore my
saying."27
As
for Imaam Maalik ibn Anas, he said:
1.
"Truly I am only a mortal: I make mistakes (sometimes)
and I am correct (sometimes). Therefore, look into my
opinions: all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah,
accept it; and all that does not agree with the Book and
the Sunnah, ignore it."28
2.
"Everyone after the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam) will have his sayings accepted and rejected -
not so the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)."29
3.
Ibn Wahb said: "I heard Maalik being asked about
cleaning between the toes during ablution. He said, 'The
people do not have to do that.' I did not approach him
until the crowd had lessened, when I said to him, 'We
know of a sunnah about that.' He said, 'What is that ?'
I said, 'Laith ibn Sa'd, Ibn Lahee'ah and 'Amr ibn
al-Haarith narrated to us from Yazeed ibn 'Amr
al-Ma'aafiri from Abu 'Abdur-Rahman al-Hubuli from
Mustawrid ibn Shaddaad al-Qurashi who said, 'I saw the
Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
rubbing between his toes with his little finger.' He
said, 'This hadeeth is sound; I had not heard of it at
all until now.' Afterwards, I heard him being asked
about the same thing, on which he ordered cleaning
between the toes."30
As
for Imaam Shaafi'i, the quotations from him are most
numerous and beautiful31,
and his followers were the best in sticking to them:
1.
"The sunnahs of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam) reach, as well as escape from, every
one of us. So whenever I voice my opinion, or formulate
a principle, where something contrary to my view exists
on the authority of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam), then the correct view is what the
Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) has
said, and it is my view."32
2.
"The Muslims are unanimously agreed that if a sunnah of
the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
is made clear to someone, it is not permitted33
for him to leave it for the saying of anyone else."34
3.
"If you find in my writings something different to the
Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi
wa sallam), then speak on the basis of the Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), and
leave what I have said."
In
one narration: "... then follow it (the Sunnah), and do
not look sideways at anyone else's saying."35
4.
"When a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, then that is my
madhhab."36
5.
"You37
are more knowledgeable about Hadeeth than I, so when a
hadeeth is saheeh, inform me of it, whether it is from
Kufah, Basrah or Syria, so that I may take the view of
the hadeeth, as long as it is saheeh."38
6.
"In every issue where the people of narration find a
report from the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi
wa sallam) to be saheeh which is contrary to what I have
said, then I take my saying back, whether during my life
or after my death."39
7.
"If you see me saying something, and contrary to it is
authentically-reported from the Prophet (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam), then know that my intelligence has
departed."40
8.
"For everything I say, if there is something authentic
from the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
contrary to my saying, then the hadeeth of the Prophet
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) comes first, so do not
follow my opinion."41
9.
"Every statement on the authority of the Prophet
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) is also my view, even if
you do not hear it from me."42
Imaam Ahmad was the foremost among the Imaams in
collecting the Sunnah and sticking to it, so much so
that he even "disliked that a book consisting of
deductions and opinions be written."43
Because of this he said:
1.
"Do not follow my opinion; neither follow the opinion of
Maalik, nor Shaafi'i, nor Awzaa'i, nor Thawri, but take
from where they took."44
In
one narration: "Do not copy your Deen from anyone of
these, but whatever comes from the Prophet (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam) and his Companions, take it; next are
their Successors, where a man has a choice."
Once
he said: "Following45
means that a man follows what comes from the Prophet
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) and his Companions;
after the Successors, he has a choice."46
2.
"The opinion of Awzaa'i, the opinion of Maalik, the
opinion of Abu Haneefah: all of it is opinion, and it is
all equal in my eyes. However, the proof is in the
narrations (from the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam) and his Companions)."47
3.
"Whoever rejects a statement of the Messenger of Allaah
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) is on the brink of
destruction."48
These are the clear, lucid sayings of the Imaams
(Allaah Exalted be pleased with them) about sticking to
the Hadeeth and forbidding the following of their
opinion without clearly- visible evidence, such that
mere opinion and interpretation is not
acceptable.
Hence, whoever adhered to whatever of the Sunnah
that was proved authentic, even if it opposed some of
the Imaams' sayings, he would not be conflicting with
their madhhab, nor straying from their path; rather,
such a person would be following all of them and would
be grasping the most trustworthy hand-hold, which never
breaks. However, this would not be the case with the one
who abandoned any of the authentic Sunnah simply because
it contradicted their views; nay, such a person would be
being disobedient to them and opposing their above
mentioned sayings, while Allaah says:
"But no, by Your Lord, they can have no (real)
faith, until they make you judge in all disputes between
them, and find in their souls no resistance against your
decisions, but accept them with the fullest
conviction."49.
He
also says:
"Then let those beware
who withstand the Messenger's order, lest some trial
befall them or a grievous penalty be inflicted on
them."50
Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (rahimahullaah)
says:
"Therefore it is obligatory on anyone who hears
of a command of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam) or knows it, to explain it to the
Ummah, advise them sincerely, and order them to follow
his command, even if it contradicts the opinion of
someone great. This is because the authority of the
Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) has
the most right to be respected and followed, over and
above the opinion of anyone great who has unknowingly
contradicted the Messenger's command in any matter. This
is why the Companions and those after would refute
anyone who contradicted the authentic Sunnah, sometimes
being very stern in their refutation51,
not out of hatred for that person, for they loved and
respected him, but because the Messenger of Allaah was
more beloved to them, and his command was superior to
the command of any other created being. Hence, when the
order of the Messenger and that of someone else
conflicted, the order of the Messenger would be more
fitting to be enforced and followed. None of this would
stop them respecting the person they had opposed because
they knew that he would be forgiven52;
in fact, the latter would not mind his instruction being
opposed when the command of the Messenger of Allaah
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) was clearly shown to be
opposite."53
Indeed, how could they mind that, when they had
ordered their followers to do so, as we have seen, and
had enjoined on them to abandon any of their views which
contradicted the Sunnah. In fact, Imaam Shaafi'i
(rahimahullaah) told his companions to attribute the
authentic Sunnah to him also, even if he had not adopted
it or had adopted something contradictory to it. Hence,
when the analyst Ibn Daqeeq al-'Eid (rahimahullaah)
collected together, in a bulky volume, the issues in
which one or more of the four Imaams' madhhabs had
contradicted the authentic hadeeth, he wrote at the
beginning of it, "It is prohibited to attribute these
answers to the Mujtahid Imaams, and obligatory on the
jurists who follow their opinions to know of these so
that they do not quote them regarding these and thus lie
against them."54
Due
to all that we have mentioned, the disciples of the
Imaams, a number of people from those of old, and a few
from those of later time55,
would not accept all of their Imaam's views; they
actually ignored many when they found them to be clearly
against the Sunnah. Even the two Imaams, Muhammad ibn
al-Hasan and Abu Yoosuf (rahimahullaah) differed from
their shaikh Abu Haneefah "in about a third of the
Madhhab"56,
as the books of masaa'il prove. Similarly is said about
Imaam al- Muzani57
and other followers of Shaafi'i and other Imaams; were
we to start giving examples, the discussion would become
exceedingly, long, and we would digress from what we set
out to do in this Introduction, so we shall limit
ourselves to two instances:
1)
Imaam Muhammad says in his Muwatta'58(p.
158), "As for Abu Haneefah, he did not regard there
being a prayer to ask for rain, but we hold that the
imaam prays two rak'ahs and then supplicates and holds
out his wrapping garment ..."
2)
We have 'Isaam ibn Yoosuf al-Balkhi, one of the
companions of Imaam Muhammad59
and a servant of Imaam Abu Yoosuf60,
who "would give verdicts contrary to Imaam Abu Haneefah
because he did not know the latter's evidence, and other
evidence would present itself to him, so he would give
verdicts using that."61
Hence, "he would raise his hands on bowing (in prayer)
and on rising from it"62,
as is the mutawaatir sunnah of the Prophet (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam); the fact that his three Imaams (i.e.
Abu Haneefah, Abu Yoosuf and Muhammad) said otherwise
did not prevent him from practising this sunnah. This is
the approach which every Muslim is obliged to have, as
we have already seen from the testimony of the Four
Imaams, and others.
To
sum up: I sincerely hope that no follower of an Imaam
will race to condemn the principles of this book and
abandon benefiting from the sunnahs of the Prophet
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) which it contains, with
the argument that they are contrary to his Madhhab. I
hope that such a person will instead consider what we
have given of the exhortations of the Imaams towards the
obligation to act on the Sunnah and ignore their sayings
contradictory to it. I hope also that he will realise
that to condemn the attitude of this book is to condemn
whichever Imaam he is following, for we have taken these
principles from those Imaams, as we have explained.
Therefore, whoever refuses to be guided by them on this
path is in great danger, for such refusal necessitates
turning away from the Sunnah, the Sunnah to which we
have been ordered to refer in cases of difference of
opinion and on which we have been commanded to
depend.
I
ask Allaah to make us among those about whom He
says,
"The answer of the
believers, when summoned to Allaah and His Messenger, in
order that he may judge betweeen them, is no other than
this: they say, "We hear and we obey" - it is such as
these that will attain Success. It is those who obey
Allaah and His Messenger, and fear Allaah, and keep
their duty to Him, who will
triumph."63
