They said: This was the Prophet’s practice, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for he never prayed more than eleven or thirteen rak‘ahs at night. During some of his night prayers, he would recite al-Baqarah, al-Nisā’, and Āl ‘Imrān in a single rak‘ah (1). Nothing of this kind, however, is recorded from him during the day; rather, he would keep the sunnah prayers brief.

Our shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him (2), said: The correct view is that the two are equal. Standing is superior (3) by virtue of the remembrance it contains, namely Quran recitation, while prostration is superior by virtue of its posture. Thus, the posture of prostration is better than that of standing, while the remembrance recited when standing is better than that recited in prostration. He continued: This was the Prophet’s practice, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When he prolonged the standing, he also prolonged the bowing and prostration, as he did in the eclipse prayer and in his night prayers. When he shortened the standing, he also shortened the bowing and prostration. He did likewise in the obligatory prayers, as al-Barā’ ibn ‘Āzib said: His standing, bowing, prostration, and standing upright after bowing were nearly equal in duration (4). And Allah knows best (5).

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Then he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would raise his head, saying “Allahu akbar” without raising his hands. His head would rise before his hands (6). He would then sit with his left foot laid flat beneath him, sitting on it and keeping his right foot upright.