raise yourselves; and when I prostrate myself, prostrate yourselves. I must not find any man preceding me into bowing or prostration.”

Ibn Majah (962) narrated it through Darim, from Sa'id ibn Abi Burdah, from Abu Burdah, from Abu Musa, who said: The Messenger of Allah said this.

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy, apart from this Darim, who is unknown, although Ibn Hibban declared him reliable. Yet the hadith is authentic, for its contents have been transmitted separately in other hadiths. One of these is the hadith of Mu'awiyah, attributed to the Prophet: “I have put on weight, so do not precede me in bowing or prostration. However much I precede you when I bow, you will catch up with me when I rise; and however much I precede you when I prostrate, you will catch up with me when I rise.” Al-Darimi and others narrated it with a good chain of transmission, and it is documented in Sahih Abi Dawud (630).

Another is the hadith of Anas ibn Malik, attributed to the Prophet: “O people, I am your imam, so do not precede me in bowing, prostrating, standing, or departing...” Muslim and others narrated it, and it is also documented in Sahih Abi Dawud (635).

1726 — “I speak nothing but the truth.”

Al-Tirmidhi narrated it in his Sunan (1/359) and Shama'il (2/34), al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunnah (3602), and Ahmad (2/360), through Ibn al-Mubarak, from Usamah ibn Zayd, from Sa'id al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: “They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, you jest with us?’ He replied...” and then cited it. Al-Tirmidhi said: “A good, authentic hadith.”