“The Sunnah is to place one palm over the other below the navel during prayer.” Ibn Abī Shayba (1) said: “The Sunnah is what has been reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him; what is established from him is that he would place his right hand over his left during prayer.” Abū Ishāq al-Jūzjānī (2) said: “As for what they have mentioned about placing the hands above or below the navel, I know of no such report from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. However, ʿAlī said: ‘It is part of the Sunnah in the obligatory prayer to place the right hand over the left below the navel’” (3).
Sometimes he would open his prayer with:
“O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the east from the west. O Allah, wash me clean of my sins with water, snow, and hail. O Allah, cleanse me of sins and wrongdoing as a white garment is cleansed of dirt” (4).
At other times he would say:
“I have turned my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth, in sincere devotion, and not