would say:

“O Allah, purify me of sins and misdeeds as a white garment is cleansed of dirt.”

If it is asked: “If this was the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, unanimously transmitted from him, and which the compilers of the Sahīh, Sunan, and Musnad collections transmitted through these and other routes—and prayer is the pillar of religion—how did this escape some jurists of Iraq and elsewhere? They did not regard standing upright after bowing and sitting between the two prostrations as actions comparable in duration to bowing and prostration, nor did they recommend any remembrance during this standing beyond the words of praise, ‘Our Lord, to You belongs all praise.’ Some students of jurisprudence even said that if a person prolonged it considerably, his prayer would become invalid.”

The answer is: The reason for this and other such matters is that the established practice of the Sunnah was for rulers and military commanders to lead the Muslims in prayer. The commander responsible for jihad was also the leader of prayer during the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, his rightly guided caliphs, and thereafter, into the period of Abbasid rule. The caliph himself would lead the people in the five daily prayers and the Friday prayer; the Muslims knew no other practice.

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, foretold the changes that would occur among the rulers after him, even saying:

“After me there will be rulers who delay the prayer beyond its appointed time. So offer the prayer at its appointed time, and let your prayer with them be voluntary.”

Among these rulers were some who would delay it