388 – Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I marched with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, toward Najd. When we encountered the enemy and formed our lines opposite them, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stood to lead us in prayer. One group stood with him while another faced the enemy. He bowed with those who were with him and made two prostrations. They then withdrew to the position of the group that had not yet prayed, and the latter came forward. He led them in one rakʿah and two prostrations, and then he pronounced the salām. After that each of them rose and completed for himself one rakʿah and two prostrations.” Agreed upon, and this wording is that of al-Bukhārī. (1)

Vocabulary of the hadith

• qibala Najd: with kasra on the qāf and fatḥa on the bā’; means “toward Najd.”
• Najd: literally any elevated tract of land; geographically, it stretches from the eastern foothills of the Sarawāt range to the borders of Iraq.
• fawāzaynā al-ʿaduww: with zāy followed by yāʾ (taḥtāniyya); i.e., we confronted and aligned ourselves with the enemy. The wāw may be replaced with a hamza, giving izā’.
• al-ʿaduww (“the enemy”): used for masculine and feminine, singular and plural; its plurals are ʿidā and aʿdāʾ.

Lessons derived from the hadith
1 – This narration outlines the second manner of performing the fear prayer, one of six well-known forms. It is recorded in both Ṣaḥīḥs, transmitted by one of the combatants, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both).