he tore it off with evident aversion, flung it aside, and said, “Such garments do not befit the God-fearing.”

He once prayed in a striped khamīṣah that had decorative markings. During the prayer he glanced at those markings, and when he finished he said, “Take this khamīṣah of mine to Abū Jahm and bring me Abū Jahm’s plain anbajaniyyah, for it just distracted me from my prayer.” (In another report: “I looked at its pattern while praying and it almost tempted me.”) (ص 145 - 170).

A Woman’s Prayer Garment
He ﷺ said, “Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached menses unless she is wearing a khimār (head-cover).” (ص 171 - 173).

Intention
He ﷺ said, “Actions are only by intentions, and each person will have nothing but what he intended.” (ص 174).

The Takbīr
He ﷺ would open the prayer by saying, “Allah is Most Great,” and he ordered the man who prayed poorly—mentioned earlier—to do the same, telling him, “No one’s prayer is complete until he performs ablution, putting the water in all its places, and then says: Allah is Most Great.” He also said, “The key to the prayer is purification; its consecration is the takbīr, and its conclusion is the taslīm.” He used to raise his voice with the takbīr so that those behind him could hear it. When he became ill, Abū Bakr d. AH raised his own voice, conveying the Prophet’s takbīr to the people. He ﷺ said, “When the imam says: Allah is Most Great, then you should also say: Allah is Most Great.” (ص 175 - 192).

Raising the Hands
He would raise his hands at times together with the takbīr, at times before it, and at times after it. He raised them with the fingers extended—neither spreading them apart nor clenching them—and positioned them level with his shoulders; sometimes he lifted them until they were in line with the upper parts of his ears. (ص 193 - 204).

Placing the Right Hand on the Left—and the Command to Do So
He ﷺ placed his right hand over his left. He said, “We—the community of prophets—have been commanded to hasten to break our fast, to delay our pre-dawn meal, and to place our right hands upon our left in the prayer.” He once passed a man who was praying with his left hand over his right; he removed it and placed the man’s right hand over his left. (ص 205 - 208).