He was also cited by al-Bukhari in his separate treatise (nos. 6, 9, 10, 11, and 19). Fourth: the report of Abu Humayd al-Saidi. While ten of the Messenger of Allah’s Companions—among them Abu Qatada—were present, Abu Humayd said: “I know better than any of you how the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform the prayer.” They replied, “Why is that? By Allah, you were neither the most assiduous follower among us nor the earliest in his company!” He answered, “Indeed I was. Listen, then.” He went on: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood for prayer he would raise his hands until they were level with his shoulders, then pronounce the takbir (Allah is greatest) while every bone settled into place. He would recite, then say the takbir and again raise his hands to shoulder-height, after which he would bow, placing his palms on his knees and keeping his back straight, neither lowering his head nor lifting it high. He would then raise his head and say: ‘Samiʿa Allahu liman ḥamidah’ (Allah hears the one who praises Him), raise his hands to the height of his shoulders while standing upright, and say: ‘Allahu akbar’ before descending to the ground, spreading his arms away from his sides. He would then raise his head, fold his left leg and sit on it; in prostration he would spread the toes of his feet. After the prostration he would say ‘Allahu akbar’, rise, fold his left leg again and sit on it until every bone returned to its place. He performed the remainder of the prayer in the same manner. When he rose for the third rakʿa after two units, he pronounced the takbir and raised his hands to shoulder-height just as he had done at the opening takbir, and he continued likewise for the rest of the prayer. In the final prostration—the one that ends with the salutation—he drew back his left foot and sat in the tawarruk posture on his left hip. They said, “You have spoken the truth; that is exactly how he used to pray ﷺ.” Al-Bukhari recorded this in his treatise (no. 5), and Abu Dawud—whose wording is quoted here—also transmitted it, as did others, as noted earlier under the heading “placing the right hand over the left.”