—describing to us the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): “When he prayed and raised his head from bowing, he would remain standing until someone would say, ‘He has forgotten.’”

These authentic hadiths of Anas explicitly state that in the prayer which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed concisely yet completely—the prayer that was both the briefest and the most complete—he would remain standing after bowing until someone would say, “He has forgotten,” and would remain seated between the two prostrations until someone would say, “He has forgotten.” Since he did this in these two positions, it is known [by the consensus] of the Muslims and through the mass-transmitted Sunnah that the bowing and prostration were no shorter than these two postures of repose. Indeed, many scholars hold that it is neither prescribed nor permissible to make these two postures as long as the bowing and prostration; rather, they should be shorter than the bowing and prostration.

The two Sahih collections relate through Shubah, from al-Hakam, who said: “A man gained control of Kufa—he named him—during the time of Ibn al-Ashath. In one narration, Ghundar identified him as Matar ibn Nājiya. He ordered Abū Ubaydah ibn Abd Allah to lead the people in prayer. When he raised his head from bowing, he would remain standing long enough for me to say: ‘O Allah, our Lord, to You belongs praise filling the heavens, filling the earth, and filling whatever else You will. You are worthy of praise and glory. None can withhold what You give, and none can give what You withhold; and no possessor of fortune can benefit from his fortune against You.’” Al-Hakam said: “I mentioned this to Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Laylā, and he said: ‘I heard al-Barā ibn Āzib say: “The standing, bowing, standing after bowing, prostration, and interval between the two prostrations in the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) were nearly equal in duration.”’” Shubah said: “I mentioned this to Amr ibn Murrah, and he replied: ‘I saw Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Laylā, but his prayer was not like that.’” And the wording of