229 – Sulaymān ibn Yasār (d. – ) related: “So-and-so would lengthen the first two rakʿahs of Dhuhr, shorten ʿAsr, recite from the short mufaṣṣal sūrahs in Maghrib, from the medium mufaṣṣal in ʿIshāʾ, and from the long mufaṣṣal in Fajr.” Abū Hurayrah then said, “I have never prayed behind anyone whose prayer more closely resembled that of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than this man.” Al-Nasaʾī recorded it with a sound chain (1).

Hadith grading
The hadith is authentic. The author states: “Al-Nasaʾī recorded it with an authentic chain.” In Fatḥ al-Bārī Ibn Ḥajar notes that Ibn Khuzaymah (1/761) and others declared it sound; al-Majd said in al-Muḥarrar: “Its chain is ṣaḥīḥ.”

Glossary
• al-mufaṣṣal: the portion of the Qur’an from Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt to the end, so called because of the frequent breaks and the brevity of its sūrahs.

Points derived from the hadith
1 – One of the Imams of the Prophet’s Mosque, ʿUmar ibn Salamah, used to prolong the first two rakʿahs of Dhuhr more than the last two, lighten ʿAsr, recite the short mufaṣṣal sūrahs in Maghrib, the medium section in ʿIshāʾ, and the long section in Fajr. Abū Hurayrah therefore said, “I have never prayed behind anyone whose prayer more closely resembled that of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than this man.” This indicates the legitimacy and the recommended nature of this pattern—of lengthening in