Section
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not assign a particular surah to any prayer, reciting only that surah, except in the Friday and the two Eid prayers. As for the other prayers, Abū Dāwūd (1) narrated from ‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: “There is no surah in the Mufassal section of the Quran, short or long, that I have not heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recite while leading the people in an obligatory prayer.”
His practice was to recite a complete surah. Sometimes he would recite it over two units of prayer, and sometimes he would recite the beginning of a surah. However, no report has been preserved of him reciting the concluding or middle portions of surahs. He would recite two surahs in a single unit of voluntary prayer, but no report of him doing so in obligatory prayer has been preserved.
As for Ibn Mas‘ūd’s hadith: “I certainly know the surahs of similar length that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would combine (2), two surahs in a single unit of prayer: al-Rahmān (The Most Merciful) and al-Najm (The Star) in one unit; Iqtarabat (Has Drawn Near) and al-Hāqqah (The Inevitable Reality) (3) in one unit; al-Tūr (The Mount) and al-Dhāriyāt (The Scattering Winds) in one unit; and Idhā waqa‘at (When It Occurs) and Nūn in one unit (4)…”—and the hadith continues—this reports an action without specifying its setting: whether
(1) Abū Dāwūd, no. 814; also reported by al-Bayhaqī (2/388), from ‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb, from his father, from his grandfather. Its chain is hasan (fair), despite Muhammad ibn Ishāq’s ‘an‘ana (transmission using “from,” without explicitly stating direct reception). A corroborating report from ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar appears in al-Tabarānī (12/365); its chain includes Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Ayyāsh, who here narrates from someone outside his own region.
(2) ق, م read: “kāna yaqrun (he used to combine).” The word kāna (used to) was inadvertently repeated.
(3) A lengthy lacuna begins here in م.
(4) Reported by al-Bukhārī (775) and Muslim (822) through several chains from Abū Wā’il, from Ibn Mas‘ūd, in an abbreviated form mentioning some of these surahs. Abū Dāwūd (1396) reports it in this detailed form through a sahīh (sound) chain from both ‘Alqama and al-Aswad, from Ibn Mas‘ūd. Its continuation reads: “And Sa’ala sā’il (A Questioner Asked) and al-Nāzi‘āt (Those Who Pull Out) in one rak‘ah (unit of prayer); Wayl lil-mutaffifīn (Woe to Those Who Give Short Measure) and ‘Abasa (He Frowned) in one rak‘ah; al-Muddaththir (The Cloaked One) and al-Muzzammil (The Enwrapped One) in one rak‘ah; Hal atā (Has There Come) and Lā uqsimu bi-yawm al-qiyāma (No! I Swear by the Day of Resurrection) in one rak‘ah; ‘Amma yatasā’alūn (What Are They Asking One Another About?) and al-Mursalāt (Those Sent Forth) in one rak‘ah; and al-Dukhān (The Smoke) and Idhā al-shamsu kuwwirat (When the Sun Is Folded Up) in one rak‘ah.”