which do nothing to satisfy his hunger. So perform ablution thoroughly. Woe to the heels from the Fire! And complete your bowing and prostration.’

Abū Sālih said: I asked Abū Abd Allāh al-Ash‘arī, ‘Who related this hadith to you?’ He replied, ‘The commanders of the armies: Khālid ibn al-Walīd, Amr ibn al-Ās, Shurahbīl ibn Hasanah, and Yazīd ibn Abī Sufyān. Each of them said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”’”

Abū Bakr ibn Khuzaymah narrated it in full in his Sahīh, and Ibn Mājah narrated part of it.

Furthermore, Sahīh al-Bukhārī contains a report from Abū Wā’il, from Zayd ibn Wahb:

“Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān—may Allah be pleased with him—saw a man who did not complete his bowing or prostration. When the man finished his prayer, Hudhayfah called him over and said to him, ‘You have not prayed. If you were to die, you would die upon something other than the natural disposition upon which Allah created Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.’”

Abū Wā’il’s wording is: “You have not prayed”—and I believe he said—“If you were to die, you would die upon something other than the Sunnah of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

This man who failed to complete his prayer had omitted stillness, proper alignment, or both. He must have omitted at least some of this, for one cannot reduce pecking like a crow, leaving only a sword’s edge between the two prostrations, and dropping straight from bowing into prostration any further while still performing something that might be called bowing or prostration. This man was performing what might be called bowing and prostration, but he did not complete them.

Despite this, Hudhayfah told him, “You have not prayed,” thus denying that he had prayed. Then he said: “If