Section
His Practice ﷺ in the Prayer in Times of Fear

Allah permitted him to shorten both the essential acts of prayer and the number of its units when fear and travel coincided; to reduce only the number of units when travelling without fear; and to shorten only the essential acts when there was fear without travel. This was his practice ﷺ, and it reveals the wisdom behind making shortening conditional, in the verse (1), upon travelling through the land and fear (2).

His practice in the prayer in times of fear, when the enemy was between him and the direction of prayer, was to arrange all the Muslims in rows behind him. He would say, “Allah is the Greatest,” and they would all do likewise. Then he would bow, and they would all bow; then he would rise, and they would rise with him. He would then descend into prostration with only the row immediately behind him, while the rear row remained standing, facing (3) the enemy.

When he had completed the first unit of prayer and risen for the second, the rear row would perform two prostrations after he had stood up. They would then rise and move forward to the first row’s position, while the first row moved back into theirs. Thus, both groups would gain the merit of occupying the first row, and the second row would perform the two prostrations of the second unit with the Prophet ﷺ, just as the first had performed the two prostrations of the first unit with him. The two groups would therefore be equal in what they performed with him and what they completed on their own. This was the utmost fairness.

When he bowed, both groups would do as they had done the first time. When he sat for the tashahhud (testimony of faith), the rear row would prostrate