Ahmad ibn al-Hasan informed us; al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali al-Jawhari informed us; Ahmad ibn Ja‘far al-Qatīʿī informed us; Muhammad ibn Yunus al-Qurashi narrated to us; Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi narrated to us; ‘Umara ibn Mihran narrated to us, from Thabit, who said:
“Anas ibn Malik once led us in prayer and made it brief; then he said, ‘This is how your Prophet used to pray.’” (1)
Sungur ibn ‘Abd Allah in Aleppo informed us; Yusuf ibn Khalil informed us; Khalil ibn Badr and others informed us, saying:
Abu ‘Ali al-Haddad informed us; Abu Nu‘aym informed us; ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja‘far informed us; Ahmad ibn ‘Isam narrated to us; Abu Dawud narrated to us; ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Maysarah—on the authority of ‘Ata’, from Abu Hurayrah—reported:
“My intimate friend, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, advised me to hold fast to three practices that, God willing, I shall never abandon: fasting three days of every month; performing two rak‘ahs of the duha (mid-morning) prayer; and not going to sleep without having performed the witr (odd-number) prayer.” (2)
(1) ʿImara b. ʿImran is considered reliable; all the other transmitters are trustworthy. Al-Bukhari (2/169, Book of Congregational Prayer, Chapter: Brevity in prayer while completing it), Muslim (no. 469, Book of Prayer, Chapter: The imam’s duty to lighten the prayer yet keep it complete), and Ahmad (3/101) transmit—through several chains—from ʿAbd al-ʿAziz b. Ḥabib, from Anas: “The Prophet ﷺ would shorten the prayer yet perfect it.” This is the wording of al-Bukhari and Ahmad; Muslim’s version reads: “He would pray briefly yet complete.” Another variant states: “He was among the people whose prayer was the lightest yet most perfect,” and a third: “I never prayed behind any imam whose prayer was lighter yet more perfect than that of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” The report is also found in Sunan Ibn Majah (no. 985).
(2) ʿAbd al-Malik b. Maysara is only narrated from by Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi; all the remaining transmitters are trustworthy. The hadith is also recorded by Ahmad (2/459), al-Bukhari (3/47), Muslim (no. 721), al-Darimi (1/339; 2/19), and al-Nasaʾi (3/229), all through Shuʿba → ʿAbbas al-Jariri → Abu ʿUthman al-Nahdi → Abu Hurayra. Al-Bukhari (4/197) and Muslim (no. 721) likewise report it via Abu al-Tiyyah → Abu ʿUthman al-Nahdi → Abu Hurayra. Muslim (no. 721) further transmits it through Sulayman b. Maʿbad → Muʿalla b. Asad → ʿAbd al-ʿAziz b. al-Mukhtar → ʿAbd Allah al-Danaj → Abu Rafiʿ al-Saʾigh → Abu Hurayra. Abu Dawud (no. 1432) relates it through Ibn al-Muthanna → Abu Dawud → Aban b. Yazid → Qatada → Abu Saʿid from Azd Shanuʾa → Abu Hurayra. Ahmad also records it from Abu Hurayra through numerous chains (2/258, 260, 265, 277, 329, 402, 472, 484, 489, 497, 499, 505, 526).