What is reported on the manner of this sitting

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) praying while sitting cross-legged.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) praying while sitting cross-legged.
Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat in the prayer, he would place his left foot between his (right) thigh and shin and lay his right foot flat; however, that was in the sitting for the tashahhud, and perhaps that (sitting cross-legged) was due to some illness, and Allah knows best.

(a) Sayyiduna Amir bin Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his father (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicating like this; then he placed his hands on his knees and sat cross-legged.
(b) Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Uqbah (may Allah have mercy on him), the brother of Sa'id bin Ubayd al-Ta'i (may Allah have mercy on him), said that he saw Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) praying while sitting cross-legged.

(a) Humayd al-Tawil (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that he saw Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) praying on his bed while sitting cross-legged.
(b) Imam Abu Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: As far as I know, I did not hear this hadith from anyone other than him. Abbad (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates this hadith, but the word 'mutarabbi'an' (cross-legged) is not in it.

(a) Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him) reports from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to sit cross-legged in the prayer.
(b) Shu'bah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I asked Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him) about sitting cross-legged in the prayer, and he said: Muhammad bin Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to do so.
(c) Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It has been narrated to us from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he sat in this way only in the tashahhud, and he gave as his excuse for it that his legs could not bear his weight. This will be mentioned later, in sha' Allah.

(a) Humayd al-Tawil (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: I saw Bakr bin Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him) praying cross-legged while leaning for support.
(b) It is reported from Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) and Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (may Allah have mercy on him), concerning a sick person, that he may pray sitting cross-legged.
(c) It has been narrated to us that Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) also did so, and it is reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he regarded it as disliked.

Shu'bah (may Allah have mercy on him) relates: I asked al-Hakam (may Allah have mercy on him) about sitting cross-legged in prayer, and he described it as disliked (makruh) and said: I think Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) also called it disliked.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: That I should sit on one or two live coals is dearer to me than that I should sit cross-legged in prayer.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned this without restriction in the book of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him).
And he said: A man's sitting cross-legged in prayer, which Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) disliked, is disliked; and the Iraqis oppose Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and say that the standing of one who prays sitting is sitting cross-legged.
Then in the book of al-Buwayti (may Allah have mercy on him) he says: He sits cross-legged in place of standing, or in whatever way he is able. It is as though he took it to apply to a specific case, or he held that view on the basis of some of what has preceded. (And Allah knows best.)