Narrator:Abu Humayd as-Sā‘idī
عَن أبي حميد السَّاعِدِيّ قَالَ فِي عشرَة مِنْ أَصْحَابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَنَا أَعْلَمُكُمْ بِصَلَاةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالُوا فَاعْرِضْ. قَالَ: كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِذَا قَامَ إِلَى الصَّلَاة يرفع يَدَيْهِ حَتَّى يُحَاذِيَ بِهِمَا مَنْكِبَيْهِ ثُمَّ يُكَبِّرُ ثُمَّ يَقْرَأُ ثُمَّ يُكَبِّرُ وَيَرْفَعُ يَدَيْهِ حَتَّى يُحَاذِيَ بِهِمَا مَنْكِبَيْهِ ثُمَّ يَرْكَعُ وَيَضَعُ رَاحَتَيْهِ عَلَى رُكْبَتَيْهِ ثُمَّ يَعْتَدِلُ فَلَا يُصَبِّي رَأْسَهُ وَلَا يُقْنِعُ ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُ رَأْسَهُ فَيَقُولُ: «سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ» ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُ يَدَيْهِ حَتَّى يُحَاذِيَ بِهِمَا مَنْكِبَيْهِ مُعْتَدِلًا ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: «اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ» ثُمَّ يَهْوِي إِلَى الْأَرْضِ سَاجِدًا فَيُجَافِي يَدَيْهِ عَن جَنْبَيْهِ وَيفتح أَصَابِعَ رِجْلَيْهِ ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُ رَأْسَهُ وَيُثْنِي رِجْلَهُ الْيُسْرَى فَيَقْعُدُ عَلَيْهَا ثُمَّ يَعْتَدِلُ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ كل عظم إِلَى مَوْضِعِهِ مُعْتَدِلًا ثُمَّ يَسْجُدُ ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: «اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ» وَيَرْفَعُ وَيَثْنِي رِجْلَهُ الْيُسْرَى فَيَقْعُدُ عَلَيْهَا ثُمَّ يَعْتَدِلُ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ كُلُّ عَظْمٍ إِلَى مَوْضِعِهِ ثُمَّ يَنْهَضُ ثُمَّ يَصْنَعُ فِي الرَّكْعَةِ الثَّانِيَةِ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ إِذَا قَامَ مِنَ الرَّكْعَتَيْنِ كَبَّرَ وَرَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ حَتَّى يُحَاذِيَ بِهِمَا مَنْكِبَيْهِ كَمَا كَبَّرَ عِنْدَ افْتِتَاحِ الصَّلَاةِ ثُمَّ يَصْنَعُ ذَلِكَ فِي بَقِيَّةِ صَلَاتِهِ حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَتِ السَّجْدَةُ الَّتِي فِيهَا التَّسْلِيمُ أَخَّرَ رِجْلَهُ الْيُسْرَى وَقَعَدَ مُتَوَرِّكًا عَلَى شِقِّهِ الْأَيْسَرِ ثُمَّ سَلَّمَ. قَالُوا: صَدَقْتَ هَكَذَا كَانَ يُصَلِّي. رَوَاهُ أَبُو دَاوُد والدارمي وَرَوَى التِّرْمِذِيُّ وَابْنُ مَاجَهْ مَعْنَاهُ وَقَالَ التِّرْمِذِيُّ: هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ لِأَبِي دَاوُدَ مِنْ حَدِيثِ أَبِي حُمَيْدٍ: ثُمَّ رَكَعَ فَوَضَعَ يَدَيْهِ عَلَى رُكْبَتَيْهِ كَأَنَّهُ قَابِضٌ عَلَيْهِمَا وَوَتَّرَ يَدَيْهِ فَنَحَّاهُمَا عَنْ جَنْبَيْهِ وَقَالَ: ثُمَّ سَجَدَ فَأَمْكَنَ أَنْفَهُ وَجَبْهَتَهُ الْأَرْضَ وَنَحَّى يَدَيْهِ عَنْ جَنْبَيْهِ وَوَضَعَ كَفَّيْهِ حَذْوَ مَنْكِبَيْهِ وَفَرَّجَ بَيْنَ فَخِذَيْهِ غَيْرَ حَامِلٍ بَطْنَهُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِنْ فَخِذَيْهِ حَتَّى فَرَغَ ثُمَّ جَلَسَ فَافْتَرَشَ رِجْلَهُ الْيُسْرَى وَأَقْبَلَ بِصَدْرِ الْيُمْنَى عَلَى قِبْلَتِهِ وَوَضَعَ كَفَّهُ الْيُمْنَى عَلَى رُكْبَتِهِ الْيُمْنَى وَكَفَّهُ الْيُسْرَى عَلَى رُكْبَتِهِ الْيُسْرَى وَأَشَارَ بِأُصْبُعِهِ يَعْنِي السَّبَّابَةَ. وَفِي أُخْرَى لَهُ: وَإِذَا قَعَدَ فِي الرَّكْعَتَيْنِ قَعَدَ عَلَى بَطْنِ قَدَمِهِ الْيُسْرَى وَنَصَبَ الْيُمْنَى وَإِذَا كَانَ فِي الرَّابِعَةِ أَفْضَى بِوَرِكِهِ الْيُسْرَى إِلَى الْأَرْضِ وَأَخْرَجَ قَدَمَيْهِ مِنْ نَاحِيَةٍ وَاحِدَة
Abu Humaid as-Sa‘idi once told a company of ten of the Prophet’s companions that he was more informed than any of them regarding the manner in which God’s Messenger conducted his prayer, and when they asked him to expound it to them, he said:
When God’s Messenger stood up to pray he raised his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders and said the takbir; then he recited some verses; then said the takbir, raising his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders; then he bowed, placing the palms of his hands on his knees and keeping himself straight neither raising nor lowering his head; then raised his head saying, “God listens to him who praises Him”; then raised his hands placing them exactly opposite his shoulders; then said the takbir; then lowered himself to the ground in prostration, keeping his arms away from his sides and bending his toes; then raised his head, bent his left foot and sat on it; then he adopted a natural position so that every bone returned properly to its place; then he prostrated himself; then he said the takbir, raised himself and bent his left foot and sat on it: then he adopted a natural position so that every bone returned to its place; then he got up, and did the same as that in the second rak'a. At the end of two rak'as he stood up and said the takbir, raising his hands so as to bring them opposite his shoulders in the way he had said the takbir on beginning to pray; then he did that in the remainder of his prayer, and after the sajda* which is followed by the taslim he put out his left foot and sat on his left hip; then he uttered the taslim. They said, “You have spoken the truth. This is how he used to pray.” *i.e. prostration Abu Dawud and Darimi transmitted it. And Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted something to the same effect. Tirmidhi saying that this is a hasan sahih tradition. Then he bowed and placed his hands on his knees as though he were clutching them, and he bent his arms and kept them away from his sides. He (i.e. the narrator) said that he then prostrated himself placing his nose and his forehead on the ground, keeping his arms away from his sides, placing the palms of his hands [on the ground] opposite his shoulders, keeping his thighs separate and not letting his stomach press on any part of his thighs till he finished; then he sat up and spread out his left foot, putting forward the front of his right foot towards his qibla, placing the palm of his right hand on his right knee and the palm of his left hand on his left knee, and he pointed with his finger, i.e., his forefinger. In another version by him [it says]: When he sat at the end of two rak'as he sat on the sole of his left foot and raised the right, and after the fourth he placed his left hip on the ground and put out both feet on one side. A version by Abu Dawud of the tradition of Abu Humaid.
Reported by Abu Dawud (No. 963, 966), At-Tirmidhi (No. 260, 304), An-Nasa’i (No. 1039, 1101, 1181, 1262), Ibn Majah (No. 803, 862, 1061), Ahmad (No. 22493) and Ad-Darimi (No. 1274, 1322). Cited in Mishkat al-Masabih (No. 801).