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 الزكاة باب ما جاء فى كراهية أخذ خيار المال فى الصدقة

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ حَدَّثَنَا زَكَرِيَّا بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ الْمَكِّىُّ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ صَيْفِىٍّ عَنْ أَبِى مَعْبَدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَعَثَ مُعَاذًا إِلَى الْيَمَنِ فَقَالَ لَهُ إِنَّكَ تَأْتِى قَوْمًا أَهْلَ كِتَابٍ فَادْعُهُمْ إِلَى شَهَادَةِ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَنِّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ هُمْ أَطَاعُوا لِذَلِكَ فَأَعْلِمْهُمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ افْتَرَضَ عَلَيْهِمْ خَمْسَ صَلَوَاتٍ فِى الْيَوْمِ وَاللَّيْلَةِ فَإِنْ هُمْ أَطَاعُوا لِذَلِكَ فَأَعْلِمْهُمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ افْتَرَضَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَدَقَةً فِى أَمْوَالِهِمْ تُؤْخَذُ مِنْ أَغْنِيَائِهِمْ وَتُرَدُّ عَلَى فُقَرَائِهِمْ فَإِنْ هُمْ أَطَاعُوا لِذَلِكَ فَإِيَّاكَ وَكَرَائِمَ أَمْوَالِهِمْ وَاتَّقِ دَعْوَةَ الْمَظْلُومِ فَإِنَّهَا لَيْسَ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ اللَّهِ حِجَابٌ. وَفِى الْبَابِ عَنِ الصُّنَابِحِىِّ. قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى حَدِيثُ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ. وَأَبُو مَعْبَدٍ مَوْلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ اسْمُهُ نَافِذٌ.
The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, sent Mu'āth to Yemen and said to him, "You are travelling to people of the Scripture (1), so call them to the declaration of faith; that there is no god except Allāh (2), and that I (Muḥammad) am the Messenger of God. If they respond to that, then inform them that God has prescribed for them five prayers throughout the day and the night. If they respond to that, then inform them that God has prescribed alms (3) to be taken from their rich and given to their poor. If they respond to that, do not take the best of their wealth, and beware of the supplication of the wronged, for there is no barrier between it and God."
(1) The peoples who were sent the Torah and the Gospel (2) Allāh is the Arabic name for the One and Only God, the same God shared by all monotheistic faiths (the name Allāh is often used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews). The name Allāh encompasses all the divine names and attributes of the Lord of the worlds, having a vast scope of meanings, and for this it is considered unique by Muslims. Unlike the word 'God', the word 'Allāh' in Arabic has no inflections of gender or number. (3) (Zakāt) One of the five pillars of Islām: A sum equivalent to 2.5% of the wealth stored over one year is paid by every Muslim annually for the benefit of the needy.