Daraqutni

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would begin the prayer, after saying the takbir, he would recite this supplication: “I have turned my face towards the One who created the heavens and the earth in truth, and I am not among the polytheists. My prayer, my sacrifice, my life, and my death are for Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, who has no partner. I have been commanded with this, and I am the first of the Muslims. O Allah! You are the King, there is no deity except You. You are my Lord, I am Your servant. I have wronged myself, I confess my sin, so forgive all my sins, for none forgives sins except You. Here I am, in Your presence. All goodness and happiness are in Your hand, and evil cannot reach You. With Your help, I can do everything. I turn to You. Your being is blessed, You are exalted and supreme. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.”

When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would go into bowing (ruku‘), he would recite: “O Allah! I have bowed for You, I have believed in You, I have submitted before You. My hearing, my sight, my mind, my bones, my tendons (have all bowed before You).”

When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would rise from bowing, he would recite this supplication: “Whoever praises Allah, Allah has heard his praise. O our Lord, all praise is due to You, praise that fills the heavens and the earth and fills the space between them, and fills whatever else You will.”

When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would go into prostration (sujud), he would recite: “O Allah! I have prostrated before You, I have believed in You, I have submitted to You. My head is bowed to the One who created it, shaped it, gave it a good form, and granted it hearing and sight. Blessed is Allah, the best of creators.”

When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would finish the prayer and say salam, he would recite this supplication: “O Allah! Whatever I have done before, whatever I will do later, whatever I have done secretly, whatever I have done openly, whatever I have done in excess, and whatever You know better than me—regarding all of these, forgive me. You are the One who brings forward, You are the One who delays. There is no deity except You.”

Imam Daraqutni (may Allah have mercy on him) states: It is known from Nadr bin Shumail, who is among the experts of the Arabic language, that he said: Regarding the words of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), “Evil cannot reach You,” it means that evil is not something by which closeness to You can be attained.

Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite this at the beginning of the obligatory prayer: “I have turned my face towards the One who created the heavens and the earth, having turned away from every false religion, as a Muslim, and I am not among the polytheists. My prayer, my sacrifice, my life, and my death are for Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, who has no partner. I have been commanded with this, and I am among the Muslims. O Allah! All praise is exclusively for You, there is no deity except You, You are pure, all praise is exclusively for You, You are my Lord, I am Your servant, I have wronged myself, I admit my sin, so forgive all my sins, for none forgives sins except You. Only You can guide to good character, and remove bad character from me; only You can remove bad character from me. I am present, all goodness and happiness are in Your hand. Only the one whom You guide is rightly guided. I do everything with Your help, and I turn to You. You are blessed, exalted, and supreme. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.” The narrator has transmitted these words: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to go into prostration in the obligatory prayer, after which he narrated the hadith as before.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would begin the prayer, he used to recite: “Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my life, and my death are for Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, who has no partner. I have been commanded of this, and I am the first of the Muslims. O Allah! Guide me towards good character and good deeds, for none can guide towards good character and good deeds except You. Save me from bad character and bad deeds, for none can save from them except You.” The narrator named Shu‘aib stated: Muhammad bin Munkadir and other jurists said to me: “If you also recite these words, it would be better, and I am a Muslim.” These are the words of the narration from the narrator named Abdul Karim.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa‘id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would stand at night to offer voluntary prayers, at the beginning of the prayer after saying the takbir, he would recite: “Glory be to You, O Allah! Praise is for You alone, Your name is blessed, You are exalted and supreme, there is no deity except You.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) would recite these words three times: “I seek refuge with Allah, the All-Hearing, All-Knowing, from the accursed Satan, from his evil suggestions and his tricks.”

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: At the beginning of the prayer, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to recite: "Glory be to You, O Allah! Praise is for You, blessed is Your Name, exalted is Your Majesty, and there is no deity except You." And Imam Abu Dawood has narrated this, and among the narrators, only Taliq bin Ghanam has transmitted this narration from Abdul Salam, and this hadith is not authentic.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates this statement from Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would say the takbir for prayer, he would then recite: "Glory be to You, O Allah! Praise is for You alone, Your Name is blessed, Your Majesty is exalted and supreme, and there is no deity except You." When he would seek refuge (ta'awwudh), he would recite: "I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, his whispers, and his traps." This elder narrated, on the authority of his father, from Nafi', from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar, from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), this narration in the same way as a marfu' (attributed to the Prophet) hadith. However, the more reliable narration is that it is transmitted from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) as his own statement. Ibrahim narrated it from Alqamah and Aswad, from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Yahya bin Ayyub narrated it with his chain as the statement of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and this is correct.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would say the takbir for prayer, he would then recite this supplication: "You are pure, O Allah! All praise is exclusively for You, Your name is blessed, Your majesty is exalted and supreme, there is no deity except You." This narration is authentic as being reported from the statement of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).

Aswad narrates regarding Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): When he would begin the prayer, he would recite: "Glory be to You, O Allah! Praise is exclusively for You, blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no deity except You."

Alqamah narrates: He presented himself before Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab, and when he saw that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had begun the prayer, he recited: "Glory be to You, O Allah! Praise is exclusively for You, Your name is blessed, Your majesty is exalted and supreme, and there is no deity except You."

Aswad narrates: I saw Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), when he began the prayer, after saying the takbeer, he recited: "You are Pure, O Allah!" After that, the narration continues as previously mentioned.

The same narration is transmitted with another chain, however, in it these additional words are present: "After that, he would recite the Ta'awwudh."

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise both hands after saying the opening takbir in prayer until his thumbs reached the level of his ears, then he would recite: "Glory be to You, O Allah! Praise is exclusively for You, Your name is blessed, Your majesty is exalted and sublime, and there is no deity except You."

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite at the beginning of the prayer: "Glory be to You, O Allah! All praise is for You, blessed is Your Name, exalted is Your Majesty, and there is no deity except You."

The same narration is transmitted with another chain, in which these additional words are present: "You used to raise both hands up to the shoulders and then recite: Glory be to You, O Allah!"

Alqamah and Aswad narrate: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would say the takbeer, he would then recite: "Glory be to You, O Allah! All praise is for You, blessed is Your Name, exalted is Your Majesty, and there is no deity except You." (Sayyiduna Umar [may Allah be pleased with him] would recite these words in such a voice that the person standing near him could hear.)

Ata reports: I and Ubaid bin Umair went to the service of Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). We asked her about the beginning of the prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him). She said: When the Prophet (peace be upon him) said the takbir, he used to recite: "Glory be to You, O Allah! Praise is for You, blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no deity except You."

Aswad narrates: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would begin the prayer, he used to recite: "Glory be to You, O Allah! All praise is for You, blessed is Your Name, exalted is Your Majesty, and there is no deity except You." (The narrator says) Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would recite these words aloud so that he could teach us them.

Abu Wa'il narrates: Sayyiduna Uthman Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) used to recite this supplication at the beginning of the prayer: "You are Pure, O Allah! All praise is exclusively for You, Your name is blessed, Your majesty is exalted and supreme, and there is no deity except You." Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) used to make us hear these words (i.e., he would recite these words aloud).