ḤADĪTH OF THE DAY

“ Muḥ ammad Ibn-'Amr Ibn-'A ṭ ā' said, "I heard Abū- Ḥumayd as-Sā'idī while he was with ten of the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, one of them being Ab ū -Qatādah Ibn-Rib'ī , say, 'I am the most knowledgeable of you concerning the prayer of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him.'[1] They said, 'You neither knew him longer than us nor did you go to him more often than we did.' He replied, 'I surely did.' They said,'Then prove it'. He said, 'When the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, stood for prayer, he stood straight and raised his hands to shoulders' level. Before bowing, he raised his hands to shoulders' level then said, 'God is the greatest', and bowed down aligning his back with his head, neither lowering nor raising his head, and placed his hands on his knees. Thereafter he said, 'God listens to whoever praises Him', raised his hands and straightened up until each vertebra returned to its place. He then said, 'God is the greatest' and prostrated on the ground, spread his elbows and pointed his toes in the direction of prayer.[2] He then folded his left leg and sat on it. He sat up straight so that each vertebra returned to its place and thereafter prostrated [again] saying, 'God is the greatest'. He again sat on his folded left leg and sat up straight so that each vertebra returned to its place and then stood up. Thereafter he did the same [steps] in the second unit of prayer. He stood up from the two prostrations [having completed two units of prayer] testifying to God's greatness and raised his hands to shoulders' level, just as he did when he started the prayer. Thereafter he did the same until [he reached] the last unit of prayer [when] he unfolded his left leg [slightly] and sat on his left thigh [3], leaning on his hip. Footnotes: [1] i.e. how the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, used to pray. [2] (Qiblah) the direction Muslims face during prayer wherever they are in the world; towards the Ka’bah in Makkah. [3] This is in the last sitting of the final unit of the prayer. ”

Sunan at-Tirmithiy كتاب الفتن باب ما جاء فى لزوم الجماعة

حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مَنِيعٍ حَدَّثَنَا النَّضْرُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ أَبُو الْمُغِيرَةِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سُوقَةَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ خَطَبَنَا عُمَرُ بِالْجَابِيَةِ فَقَالَ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّى قُمْتُ فِيكُمْ كَمَقَامِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِينَا فَقَالَ أُوصِيكُمْ بِأَصْحَابِى ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ يَفْشُو الْكَذِبُ حَتَّى يَحْلِفَ الرَّجُلُ وَلاَ يُسْتَحْلَفُ وَيَشْهَدَ الشَّاهِدُ وَلاَ يُسْتَشْهَدُ أَلاَ لاَ يَخْلُوَنَّ رَجُلٌ بِامْرَأَةٍ إِلاَّ كَانَ ثَالِثَهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْجَمَاعَةِ وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْفُرْقَةَ فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ مَعَ الْوَاحِدِ وَهُوَ مِنَ الاِثْنَيْنِ أَبْعَدُ مَنْ أَرَادَ بُحْبُوحَةَ الْجَنَّةِ فَلْيَلْزَمِ الْجَمَاعَةَ مَنْ سَرَّتْهُ حَسَنَتُهُ وَسَاءَتْهُ سَيِّئَتُهُ فَذَلِكَ الْمُؤْمِنُ. قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ مِنْ هَذَا الْوَجْهِ وَقَدْ رَوَاهُ ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سُوقَةَ وَقَدْ رُوِىَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ مِنْ غَيْرِ وَجْهٍ عَنْ عُمَرَ عَنِ النَّبِىِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم.
ʻUmar Ibnul-Khaṭṭāb gave a sermon at al-Jābiyah (1) and said, “People, indeed I stand before you in the way that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, used to stand before us. He had said, ‘I commend my Companions to you, then their successors, then those who succeed them. Thereafter lying will spread so that a man (2) will take an oath, without being bidden to swear; and one will stand as witness without being bidden to testify. Verily, no man will be in a solitary company with a woman, but the devil will be their third. Hold fast to the community and beware of division, for the devil will be nearer to the solitary one and further from the company of two. Whoever wants the luxury of heaven let him keep to the community. He who delights in doing good, and loathes doing ill is a man of faith."
(1): A village in Damascus, Syria. (2): Masculine pronouns are generally used in Arabic as a means for referring to both men and women when the meaning is left general and is not otherwise specified.