Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 3394

Yahya bin Abi Kathir says: Abu Ubaydah bin Abdullah (the son of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to me (and in it was written): To proceed: I am informing you about the way of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and about his saying and his practice regarding the prayer. He stated: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was granted comprehensive words (jawami' al-kalim); he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to teach us what we should say in the prayer. (The words of the tashahhud in the prayer are these:) 'All forms of worship, verbal, physical and financial, belong exclusively to Allah Almighty. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and may the mercy of Allah Almighty and His blessings descend. Peace be upon us and upon all the righteous servants of Allah Almighty. I bear witness that there is no deity besides Allah Almighty, and I bear witness that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and His Messenger.' (Then Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, or perhaps the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:) After that, ask for whatever seems suitable to you, and express your longing in His presence for the mercy of Allah Almighty and His forgiveness, in suitable words; and do not prolong the sitting. He used to say: I would like that, when one of you is sitting in the qa'dah of the prayer and has recited the words of the tashahhud, he should then supplicate in the presence of Allah Almighty like this: 'You are free of every imperfection; there is no deity besides You. Forgive my sin and set my deeds right. Indeed, You forgive the sins of whomever You will, and You are the Forgiving, the Merciful. O Most Forgiving, forgive me; O Most Accepting of repentance, accept my repentance; O Most Merciful, have mercy on me; O Pardoner, pardon me; O Kind One, deal with me kindly. O my Lord, grant me the ability to give thanks for that blessing of Yours which You have bestowed on me, and grant me the ability to worship You well. O my Lord, I ask You for every kind of good, and I seek refuge in You from every kind of evil. O my Lord, open good for me and seal (my end) for me with good, and grant me a longing to present myself before You, a presence without any harmful condition and without any misleading trial. And protect me from evils; whomever You protect from evils, You have indeed shown him mercy, and that is the great success.' After that, whatever supplication you make should have humble pleading and sincerity in it, for Allah Almighty loves His servant's humble pleading in His presence. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) would stand at midday, when the sun had risen high, and offer four rak'ahs in which he recited long and short surahs of the Qur'an. A short while after that he would offer the Zuhr prayer, in which he prolonged the standing in the first two rak'ahs; in these two rak'ahs he recited Surah Alif Lam Mim Tanzil al-Sajdah, and in the second rak'ah he recited something similar to it. When he had offered the Zuhr prayer, he would offer two rak'ahs after it. Then he would wait for a while, and when the sun had declined somewhat further and a good part of the day still remained, he would offer the Asr prayer. In its first two rak'ahs he recited two surahs from the Mathani or the Mufassal, but these two rak'ahs were shorter than those of the Zuhr prayer. When he had offered the Asr prayer, he would not offer any other prayer after it until the sun set. When he saw that the sun had disappeared, he would offer the Maghrib prayer, which you call the evening prayer. In its two rak'ahs he recited two of the short surahs of the Mufassal, Surah al-Layl and Surah al-A'la, or some other short surah of the Mufassal like them. After that he would offer two rak'ahs. He used to swear an oath concerning these rak'ahs, although he did not swear an oath concerning any other prayer. He would swear by Allah, besides whom there is no deity, that this is the hour which is the appointed time of this prayer, and in confirmation of it he would recite this verse: 'Establish the prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night, and (also) the recitation at dawn; indeed, the recitation at dawn is witnessed.' This is the prayer which you call the morning prayer; at that time the guardian angels gather. It weighed heavily on him to hear anyone speaking at that hour, except for the remembrance of Allah or the recitation of the Qur'an. After that he would wait until he offered the Isha prayer, which you people call 'Atamah'. In it he recited these final verses of Al Imran: 'Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth' from there to the end of the surah; and (in the second rak'ah) he recited the final verses of Surah al-Furqan: 'Blessed is He who has placed constellations in the sky' from there to the end, reciting slowly and distinctly and with a fine voice. And he used to say: Reciting the Qur'an in a good voice is its adornment. If he did not recite the closing verses of these two surahs in those rak'ahs, he would recite something similar to them, from the surahs of the Mathani or the Mufassal. When he had offered the Isha prayer, he would offer two rak'ahs after it. After every obligatory prayer he offered only two rak'ahs, except for the Friday prayer, after which he would offer four rak'ahs. Then, when it was the last part of the night, he would get up and offer whatever prayer Allah Almighty had written for him; he would offer the witr, whether nine, or seven, or more than that. Then, when true dawn broke and he could see the horizon while the darkness of the night still remained, he would get up and begin the morning prayer. In its two rak'ahs he recited two long surahs, such as Surah al-Ra'd, or some other surah of the Mathani like it, until one would imagine that the morning had perhaps already become bright. In every prayer, whenever he stood up, he said the takbir. When he raised his head (from bowing), he said 'Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah' (Allah hears the one who praises Him) until he stood up straight; then he would praise his Lord and glorify Him, which he did while standing. Then he said the takbir for the prostration until he went down into prostration; then he raised his head from the prostration saying the takbir, and then sat up straight, praising his Lord and glorifying Him. Then he said the takbir for the second prostration; then he said the takbir when he raised his head from the prostration; then he said the takbir when he stood up after the qa'dah. When he offered any prayer, he would give the salam twice, without turning this way and that or gesturing with his hand. Then, after it (i.e. after finishing the prayer), he would proceed towards his need, whether it was on the right side or on the left (i.e. after finishing the prayer he would get up from either side). When he stood for prayer he kept his voice and both his hands low. During the standing he mostly recited tasbih, and his tasbih in the prayer was: 'You are free of every imperfection; there is no deity besides You.' He would not pause in this.
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: A part of this narration, concerning the tashahhud, is mentioned in the Sahih.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; the narrator Abu Ubaydah did not hear from his father (Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him).