2.

The Book of Prayer

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كِتَابُ الصَّلَاةِ

Narrated Abu Huraira (RA): Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) after pronouncing the Takbir used to pause for a while before reciting the Qur'an. I said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! May my parents be sacrificed for you! What do you say in the pause between the Takbir and the recitation?" He said, "I say: 'Allahumma ba'id baini wa baina khata'yaya kama ba'adta bainal-mashriqi wal-maghrib. Allahumma naqqini min khata'yaya kama yunaqqath-thaubul-abyadu minad-danas. Allahummag silni min khata'yaya bith-thalji wal-ma'i wal-baradi. (O Allah! Remove my sins from me as far as the East is from the West. O Allah! Cleanse me of my sins as a white garment is cleansed of dirt. O Allah! Wash away my sins with water, snow and hail)."

It is narrated on the authority of Sayyiduna Anas Radi Allahu Anhu that a man came (to the mosque) while he was breathing heavily. He then said (to begin the prayer) "Allahu Akbar" (and added these words) “Alhamdulillahi Hamdan Katheeran Tayyiban Mubarakan Feeh” – “All praise is for Allah, abundant, pure, and blessed praise.” Then, when the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam finished his prayer, he said, “Who amongst you said these words?” So all the people remained silent. You Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam asked again, “Who said these words?” because he did not say anything wrong. So the man submitted, “O Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, I said them. I came and I was breathing heavily so I said those words.” You Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, “I saw twelve angels that were racing each other to see who would take these words up (to the court of Allah Ta’ala).” Whereas, in the narration of Abu Musa it is that “Indeed a man entered prayer and he said, ‘All praise is for Allah Ta’ala, abundant, and blessed praise.’ And this was also said, so from amongst the people a man said that I said these words and my intention behind saying these words was only good. So the Noble Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, “Indeed, twelve angels raced each other to attain these words (but) they did not know how to write its reward until they asked their Lord, so He said, ‘Write (the reward of these words) as My servant has said.’ (Meaning that there is no fixed reward for this but rather I Myself will give him his reward).” Imam Abu Bakr رحمه الله states that the supplications of the Noble Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam related to beginning the night prayer (Tahajjud) have been narrated with different wordings. I have mentioned those supplications in the chapter of Salat al-Layl. As for the supplication that the general people of Khurasan recite in the beginning of their prayer, “Subhanakallahumma Wa Bi Hamdika Wa Tabarakasmuka Wa Ta’ala Jadduka Wa La Ilaha Ghayruk. Subhanakallahumma Wa Bi Hamdika Wa Tabarakasmuka Wa Ta’ala Jadduka Wa La Ilaha Ghayruk” – “O Allah, You are pure with your praise, blessed is Your name, and exalted is Your Majesty, and there is no deity worthy of worship besides You,” then, according to our knowledge regarding this supplication, the best chain of narration is that which is narrated by Abu al-Mutawakkil Sayyiduna Abu Sa’eed Radi Allahu Anhu (and it is as follows).

Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that when the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would stand for prayer at night, he would say "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the greatest) three times, then he would say: "Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, wa tabarakasmuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghayruk. Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, wa tabarakasmuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghayruk." (Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise, blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You. Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise, blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You.) Then he would say "La ilaha illallah" (There is no god but Allah) three times, then he would say "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the greatest) three times. Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would say: "A'udhu billahis-Sami'il-'Aleem minash-Shaytanir-rajeem, min hamzihi wa nafxihi wa nafthih." (I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan, the outcast, from his incitements, his arrogance and his poetry.) Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would recite the Quran. Imam Abu Bakr, may Allah have mercy on him, said, "Regarding this hadith about the supplication, it has not been heard of, neither in ancient times nor in modern times, that it was acted upon exactly as it was narrated. And as for the respected scholars whom we have not seen, it has not been narrated to us that they would say 'Allahu Akbar' three times at the beginning of the prayer, then recite 'Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, wa tabarakasmuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghayruk', then 'La ilaha illallah' three times, and then 'Allahu Akbar' three times."

Jubayr ibn Mut'im reported that when the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, began the prayer, he would say, "Allahu Akbar (God is Most Great)," three times, "Alhamdulillah (All praise is for God)," three times, "Subhana-Allahi bukratan wa'ashila (Glory be to God, morning and evening)," three times. Then he would seek refuge (in God) similar to the seeking of refuge mentioned in the narration of Abu Sa'eed, except that they differed in the chain of narration of Jubayr ibn Mut'im's narration.

The Imam (Bukhari) has also narrated the hadith of Sayyidina Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) through the chain of Hisn bin Abdur Rahman. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that both Asim Anzi and Ubad bin Asim are unknown narrators, it is not known who they are. And it is also not known whether the narration of Hisn or Shu'ba is correct.

It is narrated on the authority of Sayyidah Aisha Radi Allahu Anha that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would begin the prayer, he would raise both his hands up to his shoulders and say “Allahu Akbar”. Then he would recite this supplication: “Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika wa tabarakasmuka wa ta’ala jadduka wa la ilaha ghayruk” (Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise, blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no deity worthy of worship except You). The teacher of Imam (Bukhari), Salam bin Jinadah did not mention these words (in his narration). Then (the Prophet ﷺ) would say “Allahu Akbar”. Imam Abu Bakr (another narrator of this Hadith) said that Haritha bin Muhammad is not from amongst those narrators whose Hadith the scholars of Hadith accept as proof and evidence.

It is proven from Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, instead of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he would begin the prayer with a supplication similar to the one mentioned in the hadith of Haritha, may Allah have mercy on him. I do not consider it disliked to begin the prayer with this supplication: “Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika (Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise)” because it is proven from Sayyiduna Umar Farooq, may Allah be pleased with him, that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would begin the prayer with this supplication. However, beginning the prayer with this supplication is more beloved to me, and the action that is more worthy of following is what has been authentically narrated from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the hadith of Sayyiduna Ali and Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with them both. This is because following the Sunnah of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is superior, higher, and better than following the Sunnah of others.