“Never fail to say at the end of every prayer: ‘O Allah, help me to remember You, thank You, and worship You well,’”

apply to the period before the salām. They also apply to the period after it, as explained above. Mu‘ādh used to lead his people in prayer, just as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, led the prayer; and the Prophet had sent him to Yemen to teach its people. If this supplication had been prescribed for the imam and those praying behind him collectively, as with the qunūt supplication, he would have said: “O Allah, help us to remember You and thank You.” Since he taught it in the singular, it is clear that it is not prescribed for the imam and those praying behind him to offer it in the plural.

This is further clarified by the report in the Sahīh from al-Barā’ ibn ‘Āzib, who said:

“When we prayed behind the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, we preferred to be on his right, so that he would turn to face us.” He said: “I heard him say: ‘My Lord, protect me from Your punishment on the Day You resurrect Your servants—or on the Day You gather Your servants.’”

This shows that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, supplicated in the singular, as in the hadith of Mu‘ādh, although both were prayer leaders. It also shows that he would turn to face those praying behind him and that he did not supplicate in the plural.

Some compilers of works on legal rulings have included the hadith of Mu‘ādh among the supplications offered within the prayer before the salām, in keeping with the other hadiths. For example, Muslim and the three Sunan collections report from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“When any of you has finished the final tashahhud, let him seek refuge with Allah from four things: the punishment of Hell, the punishment of the grave, the trials of life and death, and the trial of the False Messiah.”