Chapter: The Prophet’s Prayer
In this chapter the author presents a selection of sound hadiths describing how the Prophet ﷺ performed the prayer. His prayer is the prayer in its perfect and complete form, untouched by deficiency or dispute. Because he ﷺ is the Law-giver, following him is obligatory, and his Sunnah must be given precedence over every other statement. He ﷺ said, “Pray as you have seen me pray,” so it is incumbent upon us to learn his prayer and observe it. Since his actions ﷺ clarify the commands that make the prayer obligatory, those actions indicate obligation; whoever diverts a practice from his example to something else must produce evidence.
Hadith 1
Abū Hurayrah reported: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pronounced the opening takbīr in the prayer, he would pause for a brief moment before beginning the recitation. I said, “Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be ransomed for you, what do you say during the silence between the takbīr and the recitation?” He replied:
“I say: ‘O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the East from the West. O Allah, cleanse me of my sins as a white garment is cleansed of dirt. O Allah, wash me of my sins with water, snow, and hail.’”
Unfamiliar Expressions
- hunayha: a diminutive form meaning a very short span of time; here it refers to a light, brief pause.
- thalj (snow) and barad (hail): barad, with the middle consonant vocalized, denotes the hailstones that fall from clouds.
- araʾayta sukūtaka: the verb raʾayta is read with a ḍammah on the final tāʾ; “silence” here means lowering the voice, not refraining from speech, as shown by the question “What do you say?”
- danas: dirt or defilement.
- bi-abī anta wa-ummī: the preposition bi is attached to an omitted verb, conveying the sense “May you be ransomed with my father and mother.”