Among the narrations transmitted from Jabir is the following: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ fell ill, so we prayed behind him while he was seated, and Abu Bakr relayed his takbir to the congregation. The Prophet then turned and saw us standing; he motioned to us, so we sat down and prayed following his prayer in a sitting posture. When he concluded, he said: ‘Just now you were about to imitate the Persians and the Romans, who stand before their kings while the latter are seated. Do not do that. Follow your imams: if he prays standing, then pray standing; and if he prays sitting, then pray sitting.’” It is related by Muslim (2/19), al-Nasai (1/178), Ibn Majah (1/375), al-Bayhaqi (2/261), and Ahmad (3/334) through the chain of al-Layth b. Saad—from Abu al-Zubayr—from Jabir. Muslim, al-Nasai (1/128), and al-Tahawi (1/234) also transmit it through Abd al-Rahman b. Humayd al-Ruasi—from Abu al-Zubayr—with similar wording, explicitly noting that the prayer was the Dhuhr prayer. A second chain is given by Abu Dawud (1/99), al-Daraqutni (p. 162), and Ahmad (3/300) through al-A’mash—from Abu Sufyan—from Jabir: “The Prophet ﷺ was thrown from a horse onto the trunk of a palm-tree and his foot was sprained, so we visited him …” and the remainder matches the foregoing. This isnad is authentic according to Muslim’s criterion. A third chain appears in Ahmad (3/395) through Salim b. Abi al-Ja’d—from Jabir, with a similar wording; its isnad is likewise sound on Muslim’s terms. [The hadith is documented in my book Irwa al-Ghalil, no. 394.] These reports demonstrate that if the imam prays sitting owing to illness,