his spot of prayer. The rows then closed up, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sitting while Abū Bakr stood and recited. When Abū Bakr finished his recitation, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ rose and bowed with him for that final rakʿah. Abū Bakr then sat for the tashahhud, and the congregation sat with him; once he gave the closing salām, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ completed the second rakʿah on his own. He then walked over to lean against one of the palm-trunk columns of the mosque. At that time the mosque’s roof was nothing but palm branches and fronds, with little clay on top, so that whenever it rained the floor filled with mud; it resembled a simple palm-leaf shelter. Usāmah, meanwhile, had already readied himself for the expedition.