Those who lengthened the first two rakahs in every prayer

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Some people complained to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) about Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) and objected to the way he prayed. Sayyiduna Umar wrote to him and summoned him. When he came, Sayyiduna Umar informed him of the people's complaint and their objection to his manner of prayer. Sayyiduna Sa'd said: "I lead them in prayer according to the manner of prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): I lengthen the first two rak'ahs and keep the last two rak'ahs short." On hearing this, Sayyiduna Umar said: "O Abu Ishaq! That is exactly what I thought of you."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We used to estimate the length of the standing of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Zuhr and Asr. In the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr he would recite about thirty verses, and in the last two rak'ahs he would stand for half of that. Likewise, in the first two rak'ahs of Asr he would stand as long as the last two rak'ahs of Zuhr, and in the last two rak'ahs of Asr he would stand for half as long as the first two.

Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to lead us in the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr in such a way that he would sometimes let us hear a verse, and he recited more in the first rak'ah and less in the second. He led the Fajr prayer in the same way, reciting more in the first rak'ah and less in the second. And he used to lead the first two rak'ahs of Asr in the same way too.

Abu Uthman said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray the Zuhr prayer when the sun passed its zenith, and he would lengthen the first rak'ah.

Khalid bin Abi Bakr said: I prayed behind al-Qasim, and he used to make the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha longer than the later rak'ahs.

Khalid bin Abi Bakr said: I prayed behind Salim, and he too used to do the same, and Umar bin Abd al-Aziz also used to do the same.

Al-Dahhak bin Uthman said: Umar bin Abd al-Aziz led us in the Zuhr prayer; he lengthened the first two rak'ahs and kept the last two short, and he also kept the Asr prayer short.

Makhul used to lengthen the first rak'ah.

Abu Salamah said: Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) used to lengthen the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr and recite Surat al-Baqarah in them.