—peace and blessings be upon him—perform the voluntary midmorning prayer, yet I certainly regard it as commendable (1).” He also narrated (2) from Muwarriq al-ʿIjlī: “I asked Ibn ʿUmar, ‘Do you perform the midmorning prayer?’ He replied, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘What about ʿUmar?’ He replied, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘What about Abū Bakr?’ He replied, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘What about the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him?’ He replied, ‘I do not think he did.’”

He also related (3) from Ibn Abī Laylā: “No one told us that they had seen the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, perform the midmorning prayer except Umm Hāniʾ. She said that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, entered her house on the day of the conquest of Mecca, bathed, and prayed eight units of prayer. I had never seen a prayer briefer than that, yet he completed the bowing and prostration fully.”

In Sahīh Muslim (4), ʿAbdullāh ibn Shaqīq said: “I asked ʿĀʾishah, ‘Did the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, perform the midmorning prayer?’ She replied, ‘No, except when he returned from being away.’ I asked, ‘Did the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, combine surahs in his recitation?’ She replied, ‘From the Mufassal section of the Quran.’”

In Sahīh Muslim (5), ʿĀʾishah said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would perform four units of the midmorning prayer and add as many as Allah willed.”

In the two Sahīh collections (6), Umm Hāniʾ reported that he prayed eight units of prayer on the day of the conquest.