The Prophet's Prayer From The beginning To The End As Though ...

Sometimes he would combine soorahs from the seven tiwaal (long soorahs), such as al-Baqarah, an-
Nisaa' and aal-Imraan in one rak'ah during night prayer (below). He used to say: The most excellent
prayer is one with long standing. 167
When he recited, "Does He not have the power to give life to the dead" (Qiyaamah 75:40), he would
say,
(Glory be to You, of course!)
and when he recited,"Glorify the name of your Lord Most High" (A'laa 87:1), he would say,
(Glorified be my Lord Most High). 168
The Permissibility of Reciting al-Faatihah only
Mu'aadh ibn Jabal used to pray 'Ishaa' [the last] with the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam), and then return and lead his people in prayer. One night when he returned and prayed with
them, a young man [called Sulaim, of the Banu Salamah] from his people prayed, but when it became
too long for him, he [went away and] prayed [in the corner of the mosque], then came out, took the
reins of his camel and departed. When Mu'aadh had prayed, this was mentioned to him, so he said:
"He surely has some hypocrisy in him! I will surely tell the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi
wa sallam) what he has done." The young man said: "And I will tell the Messenger of Allaah
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) what he has done." So in the morning they came to the Messenger of
Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), and Mu'aadh informed him of what the young man had done.
The young man said: "O Messenger of Allaah! He stays a long time with you, and then he returns
and lengthens it for us." So the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: Are you one
who causes great trouble, Mu'aadh! and he said to the young man 169 : What do you do when you
pray, son of my brother He said: "I recite the opening chapter of the Book, then I ask Allaah for the
Garden, and seek refuge with Him from the Fire. I know neither your dandanah 170 nor the dandanah
of Mu'aadh!" So the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: I and Mu'aadh are
similar in this.
The narrator said: The young man said, "But Mu'aadh will know (about me) on going to the people
when they will have been informed that the enemy has arrived." The narrator said: So the enemy
came, and the young man attained shahaadah (martyrdom). So after that the Messenger of Allaah
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said to Mu'aadh, What did the one disputing with me and you do He
said, "O Messenger of Allaah, he was true to Allaah, and I spoke falsely - he was martyred." 171
Quiet and Loud Recitation in the Five Prayers and others
He (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used to recite loudly in the morning prayer and in the first two
rak'ahs of Maghrib and 'Ishaa', and quietly in Zuhr, 'Asr, the third rak'ah of Maghrib and the last two
rak'ahs of Ishaa'. 172
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