Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, and al-Bayhaqi all record the report through the route of ʿAbd Allah ibn Numayr and Abu Usamah (Hammad ibn Abi Usamah), both narrating from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar, from Saʿid ibn Abi Saʿid, from him.

Yahya ibn Saʿid al-Qattan also transmitted it, saying: “ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar narrated to us; Saʿid ibn Abi Saʿid informed me, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah.” In this version there is no mention of facing the qiblah, and the chain contains the additional link “from his father.”

This recension, too, was recorded by al-Bukhari, as well as by Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Nasaʾi, al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad, and al-Bayhaqi. Al-Tirmidhi commented, “It is sounder than the narration of Ibn Numayr.”

Al-Hafiz (Ibn Hajar) inclined toward the reliability of both versions, and that, God willing, is the correct view.

The hadith is further supported by a sound corroborating report from Rifaʿah ibn Rafiʿ al-Badri with similar wording: “When you rise intending to pray, perform wudu and perfect it, then face the qiblah and pronounce the takbir…” and so on.

This corroboration was recorded by al-Hakim, and likewise by al-Bukhari in his booklet on Qurʾanic recitation through the transmission of Dawud ibn Qays, as well as by al-Nasaʾi, al-Bukhari, al-Shafiʿi in al-Umm, al-Bayhaqi, and Ahmad.