(1) Related by Abu Dawud (1/191); Ibn Hibban in al-Thiqat (4/14); al-Daraqutni (152); al-Bayhaqi (2/5); al-Tayalisi (282-283); Ahmad (3/203); and al-Diya in al-Mukhtara (2/72), through the chain of transmission: Rib‘i ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Jarud – ‘Amr ibn Abi al-Hajjaj – al-Jarud ibn Abi Sabrah – Anas ibn Malik, who reported: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ travelled and wished to perform supererogatory prayer, he would face his she-camel toward the qibla, pronounce the opening takbir, and then pray in whatever direction his mount subsequently turned.” This is Abu Dawud’s wording. Ahmad and others add: “wherever it happened to turn.” Its chain is hasan (sound), as stated by al-Nawawi in al-Majmu‘ (3/234) and by al-Hafiz in Bulugh al-Maram (1/189). Ibn al-Sakan also declared it sahih, as noted in al-Talkhis (3/213); so did Ibn al-Mulaqqin in Khulasat al-Badr al-Munir (22/1), and earlier ‘Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili in his Ahkam (no. 1394, in my edition). The same judgment was reported from Ahmad in Ibn Hani’ʾs Masaʾil (1/67). Ibn al-Qayyim criticized the report in Zad al-Ma‘ad, saying: “This hadith is questionable; everyone else who described the Prophet’s ﷺ prayer on his mount stated simply that he prayed on it facing whatever direction it took him, without exempting the opening takbir or anything else—such as ‘Amir ibn Rabi‘a, ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar, and Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah—and their reports are sounder than this narration of Anas. Allah knows best.” I reply: This does not invalidate the hadith, once its chain is established, for Anas may have known what others did not; one who possesses knowledge is a proof against one who lacks it. It can also be said that the Prophet ﷺ sometimes turned his camel toward the qibla for the opening takbir, to demonstrate what is preferable—as Anas related—and at other times did not, praying in whatever direction was feasible;