of consecration, pronouncing, “Allāhu akbar.” He would then begin the recitation with the Opening of the Book, whose first words are: “All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” When he bowed from the standing position he would neither lift his head up nor drop it down, but kept it level and straight. On rising from bowing he would stand fully upright before going into prostration, and when he raised his head from the prostration he would not prostrate again until he was sitting upright.

After every two rakʿahs, once seated, he would say: “at-taḥiyyātu lillāh waṣ-ṣalawātu …” and so forth. When he sat, he would spread out his left foot and sit upon it, keeping his right foot upright. He forbade the worshipper to sit in the prayer like Satan sits—that is, to lay the feet flat upon the ground and sit on the heels, or to set the feet upright and then place the buttocks between them on the floor. He likewise forbade a worshipper to spread his forearms on the ground in prostration like a beast of prey spreads them. Just as he opened the prayer by glorifying and magnifying Allah, he concluded it by seeking peace for those present—the angels and the fellow worshippers—and then for all the righteous servants of Allah, the first and the last. The worshipper should be mindful of this broad scope when making his supplication.

Note:
This ḥadith is recorded only by Muslim, and it contains a weakness: it is narrated through the route of Abū al-Jawzāʾ from ʿĀʾishah, whereas Abū al-Jawzāʾ never heard directly from her. Muslim also transmitted it through al-Awzāʿī, by correspondence rather than direct audition.

Uncommon expressions:

1. “bi-al-ḥamdu lillāh” – the nominative case is retained because the phrase is being cited verbatim.
2. “lam yashkhiṣ” – meaning “he did not raise it”; from shākhiṣ, something elevated.
3. “lam yuṣawwibhu” – meaning “he did not lower it excessively.”
4. “yafrushu” – pronounced with ḍamma (or, less commonly, kasra) on the rāʾ.
5. “ʿuqbah” – Abū ʿUbayd and others explained it as the prohibited squatting posture (iqʿāʾ).
6. “yastaf­tiḥ” – here it means “to open”; the initial sīn is for emphasis, not for seeking.

Legal rulings derived from the ḥadith:

1. What ʿĀʾishah relates here about the Prophet’s prayer represents his constant practice, for the verb form kāna (“he used to”) indicates habitual continuity.