In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Publisher’s Preface

All praise belongs to Allah alone, and may blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet.

To proceed: we present to our esteemed readers this self-contained, foundational volume—an authoritative guide that places the Muslim on sure footing concerning one of the greatest pillars of Islam. It grants him peace of heart and confidence of faith that he is complying with the noble directive of the Prophet ﷺ: “Pray as you have seen me pray.”

This is the book The Prophet’s Prayer Described—from the opening takbir to the closing taslim—as though you were watching it, authored by our indefatigable hadith scholar, the eminent imam and champion of the Sunnah and of Islam, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī—may Allah have mercy on him and grant him the finest abode.

It is the original version of the work that was previously published under the same title, which—by Allah’s grace—met with wide acceptance and was reprinted many times over long years.

The Shaykh refers to this book in many of his writings under various titles. Sometimes he calls it “the original work,” at others “an explanation, documentation, and commentary.” In the catalogue of his writings and manuscripts he listed it as “The Original Description of the Prayer.” In the printed edition of The Description he often remarks, “…in the ‘Original’….” In Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd he wrote: “I have included it in our stand-alone book, The Prophet’s Prayer Described—from the opening takbir to the closing taslim—as though you were watching it, and we are currently preparing its text for publication; it will, Allah willing, appear soon, and we hope to publish it together with its explanation and documentation.” (3/313 and similarly 357)

In Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl (2/9) he said: “I have cited it in our larger work, Documentation of The Prophet’s Prayer Described,” and he said the same on pages 10, 16, 34, 62, and 70. On page 80 he added: “Refer to our commentary on The Prophet’s Prayer Described.” We have also heard him refer to it as “The Large Description of the Prayer.”