and Sūrat Āl ‘Imrān,” he said, “he bowed for about as long as he had stood, and prostrated for about as long as he had bowed.”

In the authentic hadith of al-Barā’, he said:

“His standing, bowing, standing upright again, prostration, sitting between the two prostrations, and sitting between the salutation and departure were all nearly equal in length.”

Another version states:

“Except for the standing and sitting.”

It is also authentically reported from ‘Ā’ishah:

“He would remain in a single prostration for as long as it takes a person to recite fifty verses.”

These hadiths show that prolonging the prayer—its standing, bowing, and prostration—is better than increasing the number of these acts while keeping them brief. This is the third view concerning the second case. Those who regard the two as equal say that the hadiths on this matter conflict, but that is not so. His statement,

“The best prayer is prolonged devotion,”

includes prolonging both standing and prostration. The same applies to what Muslim narrated in his Sahīh from ‘Ammār, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“A man’s lengthy prayer and brief sermon are a sign of his understanding of religion. So prolong the prayer and keep the sermon brief.”

He also said:

“Whoever leads the people in prayer should keep it brief; when he prays alone, he may prolong it as much as he wishes.”

We have already explained that the hadiths establishing the superiority of prostration do not contradict this.

It is well known that the best speech is the speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Furthermore, when he performed the eclipse prayer, he could have prayed ten or twenty rak‘ahs, increasing the number of times he stood and prostrated. Yet he did not do so; rather, he prayed