Following the imam

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: A man prayed behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He would go into bowing before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went into bowing, and would rise before he rose. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) completed the prayer, he asked: Who did this? The man said: O Messenger of Allah, I did. I wanted to find out whether you become aware of it or not. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Guard against deficiency in the prayer. When the imam goes into bowing, go into bowing; and when he rises from bowing, rise!
Ahmad recorded it, and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains Ayyub bin Jabir. Imam Ahmad says: The hadith he narrates resembles the hadith of truthful people. Ibn Adi says: His hadiths support one another. Yahya bin Ma'in and a group of scholars declared him weak.

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'adah, the commander of the army (may Allah be pleased with him), relates: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "My body has become heavy, so whoever misses my bowing should catch it while I am slowly standing up (the narrator is unsure about one word here, but its meaning is this)."
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy); however, the narrator who transmits it from Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'adah (may Allah be pleased with him) is Uthman bin Abi Sulayman, and most of his narrations are from the Tabi'un. And Allah knows best.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says: One of us, while praying behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), would keep his back upright until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had fully settled in prostration; the narrator is unsure, perhaps the words are: until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had reached the ground in prostration; and at that point he would prostrate.
Abu Ya'la recorded it; its chain contains a narrator who is not named.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prostrated, none of us would prostrate until he saw that he had gone into prostration.
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and Abu Ya'la recorded something similar. In al-Bazzar's narration there is Sa'id bin al-Mufaddal, whom Abu Hatim declared weak and others declared thiqah (trustworthy). Abu Ya'la's narration is munqati' (disconnected) between al-A'mash and Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna al-Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When we prayed behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and he said 'Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah' (Allah hears the one who praises Him) and stood up from bowing, none of us would bend his back until he saw that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had gone into prostration.
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains al-Mufaddal bin Sadaqah, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "My body has become heavy, so do not get ahead of me in the prayer in standing, bowing and prostration."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not get ahead of your imam in bowing, for you will catch up with him in what he goes ahead of you by."
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Isma'il bin Muslim al-Makki, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "When you stand in prayer, do not get ahead of your reciter (that is, the imam) in bowing, prostration and standing; rather, your reciter (that is, the imam) should do it before you. Whatever he goes ahead of you in, you will catch up with him, when he is raising his head from bowing or prostration or is standing up; so whatever he does before you, you will at that point catch up with your reciter."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in full in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and al-Bazzar recorded part of it; and this narration is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "When the imam says the takbir, you also say the takbir; when he bows, you also bow; when he prostrates, you also prostrate; when he raises his head from bowing, you also raise yours; and when he prays sitting, you also pray sitting."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Ufayr bin Ma'dan, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The one who bows down or rises before the imam, his forelock is in the hand of a devil."
Al-Bazzar and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat recorded it, and its chain is hasan (good).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Does the one who raises his head before the imam feel safe from Allah Almighty changing his head into the head of a dog?" I say: This hadith is in the Sahih, except that it does not contain the words "the head of a dog."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat.

He also recorded from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): "The one who raises his head before the imam, or lowers it." The narrators of the first narration are thiqat (trustworthy), except al-Tabarani's teacher al-Abbas bin al-Rabi' bin Taghlib, for I have not found anyone who has given his biography.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The imam has been appointed only so that he may be followed. When he bows, you also bow; when he raises his head, you also raise yours. Do not get ahead of him when he bows, or raises his head, or prostrates; for if you are in that state, you will catch up with him in what he has gone ahead of you by: he will prostrate before you and raise his head before you, and so you will catch up with him.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators have been declared trustworthy.

Abu al-Ahwas relates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When you are behind the imam, do not bow until he has bowed, do not prostrate until he has prostrated, and do not raise your head before him. When the imam has finished (the prayer) and has neither stood up nor turned from his place, and you have some need, then go and leave him, for your prayer is complete.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Does the one who raises his head before the imam consider (himself) safe from his head being changed into the head of a dog? People will either desist from raising their gaze toward the sky, or their sight will be snatched away.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir with several chains, the narrators of some of which are thiqat (trustworthy).

It is reported concerning Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Yazid (may Allah be pleased with him): He was leading the people in prayer here, and the people were putting down their heads before he put down his head, and raising their heads before he raised his head. When he completed the prayer, he turned toward the people and said: O people, why have you appointed an imam, and why have you become followers? I am leading you in prayer according to the way of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I am not falling short in it in any respect.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Muhammad bin Musa al-Ansari, a teacher of Abu Nu'aym, and I have not found anyone who mentions him. The rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.