the Prayer,” and this entails prostrating upon the two fleshy pads of the palm, as is apparent. Ibn al-Athīr said in al-Nihāyah: “What is intended is the ball of the thumb and the corresponding pad of the little finger; the dual form prevailed, as in the expressions al-ʿUmarayn and al-Qamarayn.”

2967 — “People must cease abandoning the Friday prayers, or Allah will seal their hearts, and they will then surely become among the heedless.”

It was recorded by Muslim (3/10), al-Ṭaḥāwī in Mushkil al-Āthār (4/232), al-Bayhaqī in al-Sunan al-Kubrā (3/171), and Ibn ʿAsākir in Tārīkh Dimashq (5/229), through several routes from Abū Tawbah, who said: Muʿāwiyah—namely, Ibn Salām—narrated to us from Zayd, meaning his brother, that he heard Abū Salām say: al-Ḥakam ibn Mīnāʾ narrated to me that ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr and Abū Hurayrah heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say while upon the steps of his pulpit—then he cited it.

Ibn Khuzaymah also recorded it in his Ṣaḥīḥ (3/175/1855) through this same route, and Ibn ʿAsākir likewise recorded it through Ibn Khuzaymah. However, two discrepancies occur in their chains of transmission. The first is that they state: “Al-Rabīʿ ibn Nāfiʿ narrated to us from Abū Tawbah.” Yet this al-Rabīʿ is himself Abū Tawbah. It therefore appears that the particle “from” was inserted by one of the copyists; and it is evidently an old insertion, having reached Ibn ʿAsākir in this form. The other discrepancy is that they mention Abū Saʿīd in place of Ibn ʿUmar. I do not know who made the error.

Yaḥyā ibn Ḥassān corroborated him in al-Dārimī (1/368), as did Ibn Shuʿayb in Ibn ʿAsākir; both narrated it from Muʿāwiyah ibn Salām, in accordance with Muslim’s version and that of the other compilers. Ibn Ḥassān is among the narrators of both al-Bukhārī and Muslim. Ibn Shuʿayb is Muḥammad ibn Shuʿayb ibn Shābūr, and he is trustworthy. Thus, this is a strong corroboration.