Abu Dawud

1225. Commentary:
➊ During travel, offering voluntary (nafl) prayers is the best use of one’s time and the best act for attaining closeness to Allah, the Possessor of Majesty.
➋ Only voluntary (nafl) prayers may be performed on a riding animal, not obligatory (fard) prayers. However, this is when the riding animal is under the traveler’s own control. The means of travel in our era, such as trains and airplanes, are not under the passengers’ personal control; therefore, obligatory (fard) prayers may also be performed on them. In any case, as far as possible, obligatory (fard) prayers should be performed at the nearest stop. For example, if the shore is not near while on a boat or ship, then by unanimous agreement, performing obligatory (fard) prayers on them is permissible. The same applies to buses and airplanes, etc. In summary, obligatory (fard) prayers should be performed in whatever way possible, or one should act upon combining prayers in advance (jam‘ taqdim) or delaying them (jam‘ ta’khir).
➌ This hadith also shows that Witr is not obligatory (fard), but rather an emphasized voluntary (nafl) prayer.

Hadith Commentary:
Anas bin Malik (radi Allahu anhu) went from Basra to Syria to the then Caliph, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan, to complain about the tyrant Hajjaj bin Yusuf al-Thaqafi.
When he returned to Basra, Anas bin Sirin went to welcome him and saw that he was performing supererogatory (nafl) prayer on a donkey, gesturing (with head movements), and his face was not towards the qiblah.
When he was asked about this, he replied that he had seen the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) performing supererogatory prayer on a mount in the same manner.
This narration is reported in Muslim from Abdullah bin Umar (radi Allahu anhu) as follows:
“I saw the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) performing prayer on a donkey or a she-donkey, while he was heading towards Khaybar,” meaning, I saw the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) performing (supererogatory) prayer on a donkey, and his blessed face was towards Khaybar.
Imam al-Bukhari (rahimahullah) has transmitted this narration through the chain of Ibrahim bin Tahman.
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (rahimahullah) says that he did not find this hadith through the chain of Ibrahim bin Tahman as a connected report, but Siraj narrated from Amr bin Amir, who narrated from Hajjaj, with the wording that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would pray on his she-camel, whichever direction it turned. So Anas (radi Allahu anhu) made an analogy of praying on a donkey to praying on a she-camel. Siraj also narrated from Yahya bin Sa’id, who narrated from Anas (radi Allahu anhu) that he saw the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) praying on a donkey, and his face was towards Khaybar.
Allamah Shawkani (rahimahullah) states that facing the qiblah in prayer is obligatory by consensus.
However, when a person is unable, or there is fear, or it is a supererogatory (nafl) prayer, then in these circumstances this obligation is lifted.
Even for supererogatory prayer, it is necessary that at the time of beginning the intention, the face is towards the qiblah; after that, wherever the mount turns, it is permissible to perform the supererogatory prayer.
‘Ayn al-Tamr is a village in the land of Sham, located towards Iraq.
This narration proves that it is not blameworthy to convey the complaint of an oppressive ruler to a higher authority, and that going on foot to welcome a distinguished person is a meritorious act, and also that a lesser person may investigate issues from a greater person, and it is also established that presenting a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) as evidence holds great importance, for a believer there is no room beyond it.
Therefore, it has been rightly said:
The foundation of religion is to hold the speech of Allah (the Qur’an) in the highest esteem, and then to accept the hadith of Mustafa (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) with heart and soul.

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
For performing voluntary prayers (nafl) on a mount, it is not necessary that the animal be one whose meat is lawful to eat (ma’kul al-lahm) or that its droppings, etc., are pure. However, it is necessary that, at the time of prayer, no part of the worshipper’s body or clothing is contaminated with impurity (najasah).

(2)
It is also established that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) performed voluntary prayers (nafl) on a donkey, as narrated from Anas (radi Allahu anhu) that he saw the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) performing nafl on a donkey while he was heading towards Khaybar.
(Sunan al-Nasa’i, al-Masajid, Hadith: 742)
Similarly, it is narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar (radi Allahu anhuma), who said:
I saw the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) performing prayer on a donkey while his face was towards Khaybar.
(Sahih Muslim, Salat al-Musafirin, Hadith: 1614(700))
The narration of Ibrahim ibn Tahman has not been reported by Imam al-Bukhari (rahimahullah), nor has it reached us with a connected chain.

Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlawi (rahimahullah) writes in Sharh Tarajim Bukhari:
Imam al-Bukhari (rahimahullah) established this chapter with special care in order to refute the misconception that prayer on a donkey is not permissible, because it is, due to its impurity, considered distant from Allah’s mercy and close to Satan.

From these ahadith, it is established that there is no harm in performing prayer on a donkey, nor is there any need to fall into such misconceptions.

742. Commentary:

➊ The matter is that other narrators mention a camel instead of a donkey; only Amr ibn Yahya mentions a donkey. (This discussion pertains to Hadith 741.) Imam Daraqutni rahimahullah has written that Amr is a trustworthy (thiqah) narrator. It is possible that sometimes he rode a donkey and sometimes a camel, whereas Imam Nasa’i rahimahullah’s intent is that Amr’s narration is anomalous (shadh), and the mention of the donkey is not correct. Even though the mention of the donkey is present in Hadith 742 as well, regarding this Imam Nasa’i rahimahullah states that this is actually the action of Anas radi Allahu anhu himself, meaning he himself was performing voluntary (nafl) prayer while riding a donkey. The narrator mistakenly attributed it to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Imam Nasa’i rahimahullah’s considering the narration of Ibn Umar radi Allahu anhuma, with the addition of «يُصَلِّي عَلَى حِمَارٍ», as not valid as evidence is certainly questionable, because in it, which trustworthy narrators have opposed it? Rather, it contains an additional matter. Furthermore, the narrator named Amr is also trustworthy. And the addition of a trustworthy narrator, as long as it does not contradict other narrations, is acceptable. Moreover, this hadith is also considered authentic by Imam Muslim rahimahullah. [صحیح مسلم ، صلاۃ المسافرین ، باب الصلاۃ في الرحال في المطر ، حدیث : (35) 770]

Furthermore, this hadith is also supported by the hadith of Anas ibn Malik, which is termed a corroborating narration (shahid) in technical terminology. Then, there is no contradiction between them because it is possible that sometimes he rode a donkey and sometimes a camel, as if these are two different occasions, as Imam Nawawi rahimahullah has stated. Therefore, instead of declaring the narration invalid as evidence, while the narrator is also trustworthy, it is better to reconcile (tatbiq) between them. Then, the objection that the marfu‘ (attributed to the Prophet) status of the hadith of Anas is not correct, and the reason is that other narrators besides Yahya ibn Sa‘id mention it from Anas as mawquf (stopped at the Companion), as is in the narration of Anas ibn Sirin. See: [صحیح مسلم ، صلاۃ المسافرین ، حدیث : 702]

This too is questionable, because if one has narrated it mawquf and another marfu‘, and the one narrating is trustworthy, then this is not a valid criticism; rather, it is an additional benefit. Thus, this narration is established both mawquf and marfu‘, and this is not objectionable. Understand it this way: if one narration is transmitted mursal (with a missing link) and another is musnad (connected), or one is munqati‘ (disconnected) and another is muttasil (connected), is there any contradiction between them? Absolutely not; rather, the connected and musnad will be accepted. The same is the case here. In fact, a marfu‘ corroborating narration (shahid) for this mawquf narration is also found from Ibn Umar radi Allahu anhuma, which Imam Muslim rahimahullah has included in his Sahih. In any case, the truth is that both hadiths are authentic. Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah has also declared both to be authentic; rather, he has made these narrations corroborate each other. See: [فتح الباري : 576/2 ، حدیث : 1100]

Shaykh al-Albani rahimahullah has also declared both these narrations to be authentic. See: [صحیح سنن النسائي]

➋ This pertains to voluntary (nafl) prayer. Since nafl can be performed at any time, therefore, concessions have been given for nafl, such that if one does not wish to pray standing, he may pray sitting; if he cannot dismount, he may pray on his mount, and instead of bowing (ruku‘) and prostrating (sujud), he may gesture.

➌ The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was heading towards Khaybar, and Khaybar is to the north, whereas the qiblah from Madinah Munawwarah is to the south.

Lexical Explanation:
«يُومِئُ بِرَأْسِهِ» He would indicate with his head for bowing (ruku) and prostration (sujud), and for prostration he would bend a little more than for bowing.
«الْمَكْتُوبَة» Written, meaning the obligatory prayer.
«اَلرِّكَابِ» With a kasrah under the letter "ra" and a light "kaf". It refers to a riding animal, i.e., a she-camel or anything used for riding. Here, a she-camel is meant.

Benefit:
From this hadith, it is understood that in the state of travel, voluntary (nafl) prayers can be performed on a riding animal, not the obligatory (fard) prayers. Also, if one initially faces the direction of the qiblah, or turns the animal towards the qiblah and begins the prayer, then even if the animal turns in another direction during the prayer, the prayer remains valid. However, this is when the riding animal is under the traveler’s own control. The means of transport in our era, such as trains and airplanes, are not under the passengers’ control; therefore, in such journeys, one should avail oneself of the concession of combining prayers in advance (jam‘ taqdim: combining Zuhr and ‘Asr at the time of Zuhr, and Maghrib and ‘Isha at the time of Maghrib) or delaying them (jam‘ ta’khir: combining Zuhr and ‘Asr at the time of ‘Asr, and Maghrib and ‘Isha at the time of ‘Isha). If the journey is so long that the time for two prayers (Zuhr and ‘Asr or Maghrib and ‘Isha) will pass during the journey itself, then even the obligatory prayers can be performed on the riding animal. For example, on a boat or a ship, if the shore is not near, then by consensus, it is permissible to perform the obligatory prayer on them.