How did the Prophet (pbuh) perform prayers?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The way the Prophet (pbuh) perform prayers is in the way that is described in ilm al-hal (catechism) books. This issue is mentioned in the fards, wajibs and sunnahs of prayer. However, the mood of the Prophet (pbuh) when he starts prayer is very important.

Hz. Aisha narrates: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) would talk to us and we would talk to him. However, when it was time to prayer, he would act as if he did not know us; he would turn toward Allah with all of his faculties. (Fadail al-A'mal p. 303)

The Companions said to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh),

"Allah states in the chapter of al-Fath that He forgave all of your sins. Why do you worship Allah so much?" The Prophet (pbuh) said,

"Why should I not be a slave who thanks Allah?"

According to what is stated in a hadith, when the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed a prayer, a sound of weeping with sobbing like a hand mill would come from the chest of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).

According to a narration from Hz. Aisha, sounds resembling the bubbling of a saucepan full of water would come from the chest of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) in prayer. (Ibn Majah, Muqaddima, 3)

According to what Hz. Aisha narrates, the Prophet (pbuh) would stand in tahajjud prayer until his blessed feet swelled. She felt sad and asked,

"O Messenger of Allah! Why do you pray so much though your previous and future sins were forgiven?" He said,

"O Aisha! Should I not be a slave who thanks his Lord a lot?" (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 6)

Ata narrates. I said to Hz. Aisha,

"Tell me about the most amazing experience you ever had in the company of the Messenger of Allah." Hz. Aisha wept and said,

"Was there anything at all about him that was not amazing? He came to me one night and went to bed with me, so that his skin touched mine. Then, he said,  

"O daughter of Abu Bakr, let me worship my Lord." I said,  

" I love being close to you but I prefer to respect your wish."

I let him go. He stood up and went to a water-skin to make wudu. He did not pour out much water. He began praying and started to weep. His tears began to stream down his chest. He bowed down for ruku’ and wept again. Then, he prostrated and wept again. He raised his head and wept again. This weeping continued until the morning. When the time for the morning prayer started, Bilal came and called adhan. I said,

"O Messenger of Allah! What causes you to weep? Allah forgave your previous and future sins?" He said,

"-Should I not be a thankful servant? Why should I not thank Him?"

When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was about to die, his last advice was about observing prayers; it was the last hadith reported from him. Hz. Anas narrates:

"When the Messenger of Allah was about to die, his last words on his deathbed were as follows:

"Do not neglect prayers and be careful about the rights of what your right hands possess (your slaves)." (Prof. Dr. İbrahim Canan, Kütüb-i Sitte Tercüme ve Şerhi, Vol. 17, p. 338)

When a person is given the good news that somebody he loves very much has come, he becomes very happy; the Messenger of Allah would become hundreds of times happier than that when he stood up to perform a prayer. He would reach the peak of awe and modesty toward his Lord and would take great pleasure from worshipping and invoking Him. Once, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) described prayer as follows:   

"Perform prayers in two and two rak'ahs. There is tashahhud after every two rak`ahs. Prayer is awe and showing humility by stretching out your hands, raising them to your Lord and invoking, ‘O Lord! O Lord!’ If a person does not do this, his prayer is missing." (Tirmidhi, Salah, 166)

That is, prayer means to understand one’s weakness and tell his need to the Creator, to beg and invoke Him deeply in his heart.

Muslims performed the five daily prayers rendered fard for them but the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed nafilah prayers like duha, ishraq and tahajjud prayers in addition. All Muslims performed seventeen rak’ahs of fard prayers but the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed 50-60 rak'ahs of fard and nafilah prayers every day and night. In those prayers, the meaning of love of Allah was superior to everything and every meaning in the heart of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He would lengthen ruku’ so much that a person who saw him from a distance would think he forgot to prostrate.

Hudhayfa narrates:

I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) one night. He started reciting the chapter of al-Baqara. I thought,

"He will bow down for ruku’ at the end of one hundred verses." He continued reciting after the one hundredth verse too.

I thought, "He will perhaps perform two rak'ahs with this chapter." He continued reciting. I thought he would bow down after finishing the chapter. Then, he started to recite the chapter of an-Nisa. When he finished it, he started to recite the chapter of Aal-i-Imran. He was reciting slowly. When he recited a verse of glorification, he said 'subhanallah (Allah is free and away from deficiencies)'. When he recited a verse of invocation, he invoked. When he recited a verse of refuge, he took refuge. Then, he bowed down for ruku’. He started to say, 'Subhana Rabbiyal-Azim (Allah, who is great, is free and away from all deficiencies)'. His bowing lasted about the same length of time as his standing. Then, he stood up saying, 'Samiallahu liman hamidah. Rabbana lakal-hamd (Allah hears the one who praises Him. Our Lord! Praise be to You.)' He stood about the same length of time as he had spent in bowing. Then, he prostrated. He said, 'Subhana Rabbiyal-A'la (Allah, who is sublime, is free and away from all deficiencies)'. His prostration lasted nearly the same length of time as his standing." (Muslim, Salatul-Musafirin, 203)

From the beginning of the revelation, he performed prayers in the yard of the Kaaba though the polytheists who harassed and tortured him mercilessly were there. In prayer, some of the polytheists would attack him but he was not afraid of them, and he did not abandon praying. During the war, when the forces of the two sides confronted and when the swords clang, spears buzzed and hearts pounded, , the Muslims would form ranks behind the prophet, who was the imam. 

Abu Hurayra narrates: Once, the Messenger of Allah halted between Dajnan and Usfan during an expedition. The polytheists said,

"These people have a prayer which is more beloved to them than their fathers and their children. This prayer is the afternoon prayer. Make preparations and we will attack them suddenly when they pray.”

Jibril came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and told him to divide his Companions into two lines and lead one group in prayer for one rakah, and another group to stand behind them on guard with their weapons. Then, he told the Prophet to tell this group to retreat after the first rak'ah and the other group to come and follow him in prayer for one rak'ah. Thus, he ordered each group to perform one rak'ah with the Messenger of Allah and the Messenger of Allah to perform two rak'ahs. (Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 4 (3035)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was so enthusiastic about standing in the presence of Allah that he did not find it enough to perform only fard prayers during wars; he would worship at night until the morning. As a matter of fact, Hz. Ali states the following while narrating the Battle of Badr:

"On the day of Badr, there was no horseman except Miqdad among us. I know very well that everybody except the Messenger of Allah slept on that day. The Messenger of Allah performed prayers and wept under a tree until the morning."

His loyalty to Allah was like that. He always performed prayers on time. Even when he was very ill, he did not skip any prayers. When he was very ill before his death, he felt very weak. He left his room to go the mosque with the help of two people for the noon and afternoon prayers and performed the prayers in congregation. Although he was wriggling in pain, he did not neglect to remind his ummah about the issues that would be the most useful for them. His last words were as follows:

"Prayer! Prayer! Fear Allah about what your right hands possess (your slaves)!" (Abû Dâvûd, Edeb, 133)

The issues that the beloved Prophet (pbuh) regarded necessary to remind in his last breath are probably the most important points for the duties of worshippers. The first one is prayer, which makes a slave approach his Creator the most. The second one is treating well the weak people, workers and women, whom our Lord entrusted to us, which will protect us from falling into the pits of Hell.  

Once, The Messenger of Allah was sitting in the mosque with his Companions and waiting for the prayer. Somebody stood up and said,

“O Messenger of Allah! I committed a sin.” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) kept silent. After the Prophet (pbuh) finished the prayer, the same man stood up and repeated his statement. The Prophet (pbuh) asked,  

"Did you not perform the prayer with us? Did you not make wudu perfectly for it?" The man said,

 "O Messenger of Allah! Yes!" Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"That prayer is atonement for your sin." (Haythami, Majmauz-Zawaid, I, 301)

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