Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 17406 — The prayer passed through three stages

Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The prayer passed through three stages (before being settled in its present form), and fasting also passed through three stages. As for the stages of the prayer: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah and prayed facing Bayt al-Maqdis for seventeen months. Then Allah revealed this verse: "We see the turning of your face towards the sky, so We will surely turn you to a qiblah that you will be pleased with" [al-Baqarah: 144]. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) turned towards the Ka'bah; this was one stage. The Companions used to gather for the prayer and inform one another (by word of mouth), until they began to strike a clapper (naqus), or came close to striking it. Then a man called Abdullah bin Zayd came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! If I may tell you: I was not asleep, I was between sleep and wakefulness, when I saw a person wearing two green garments. He stood, faced the qiblah and said: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, until he completed the adhan, each phrase twice. Then at the end of his adhan he said: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illallah (there is no god but Allah). Then he paused for a while, then stood and repeated the same words, except that he added: Qad qamat al-salah (the prayer has begun). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Teach it to Bilal." So the first to call the adhan with it was Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him). And Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said: O Messenger of Allah! The very same dream that came to Abdullah bin Zayd came to me as well, except that he reached you before me. So these were two stages. The narrator said: The Companions would come to the prayer when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had already led part of it, and they would indicate with their fingers how many (rak'ahs had been prayed) - one, two, (and so on). Then Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) came when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had already led part of the prayer, and he (too) joined the prayer. (Then) he said: In whatever position I find him (the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him), I join him in that position, and then I make up (what I missed) afterwards. So (once again) he came when he (peace and blessings be upon him) had already led part of the prayer, and he joined the prayer. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had completed the prayer, Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up to complete the rest of his prayer, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Mu'adh has set this way for you, so do likewise." These were three stages. As for the stages of fasting: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah and began fasting three days of every month, and he fasted Ashura, and he fasted (in this way) for seventeen months, from Rabi' until Ramadan. Then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, made the fasting of Ramadan obligatory upon him, and revealed to him (peace and blessings be upon him): "Fasting has been prescribed for you" [al-Baqarah: 183] up to: "a ransom: feeding a poor person" [al-Baqarah: 184]. So whoever wished would fast, and whoever wished would feed (a poor person), and that sufficed for him. Then Allah made fasting binding upon the healthy resident, granted a concession in it to the sick and the traveller, and retained feeding (the poor) for the elderly person who is unable to fast, and He revealed to him (peace and blessings be upon him): "The month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was revealed, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs of guidance and the criterion; so whoever of you is present in the month, let him fast it" [al-Baqarah: 185]. The Companions used to eat, drink and go to their wives at night as long as they had not slept; once they slept, they refrained from those things. Then a man called Sirmah spent his day fasting and working, then came home and fell asleep before breaking his fast, so he remained fasting into the morning. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw him at the end of the day severely exhausted and said: "What is the matter with you, that I see you exhausted?" He said: Yesterday I worked all day, then I came home and slept before breaking my fast. And Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also came, having been intimate with his wife after he had slept, and he too told him (peace and blessings be upon him) about it. So Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed this verse: "It has been made lawful for you to go to your wives on the night of the fast" [al-Baqarah: 187] to the end of the verse.