Hadith record

8. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Hammad ibn ‘Isa who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), one day asked me, ‘Do you know how to perform Salah (prayer) properly?’ I said, ‘I keep the book of Hariz with me in Salah (prayer).’ The Imam said, ‘Nevermind, O Hammad. Stand up and perform Salah (prayer).’ The narrator has said, ‘I then stood up in his presence, facing the direction of Qiblah (Makkah). I began performing Salah (prayer), with Ruku‘ and Sajdah.’ He then said, “O Hammad, you do not know how to perform Salah (prayer) properly. It is a shame for a man of your people who at the age of sixty or seventy cannot even perform one Salah (prayer) according to its complete rules and manners.’ Hammad has said, ‘I belittled myself very much at this point. I then asked him saying, “I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause teach me how to perform Salah (prayer) properly.’” Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), stood up straight facing the direction of Qiblah. He allowed his hands to rest on his thighs, with his fingers close side by side, kept his feet near each other, only leaving between them a distance of three fingers opened up, with his toes facing the direction of Qiblah without allowing them to deviate from this direction and with humbleness said, ‘Allah is great.’ He then recited al-Hamd (the first Chapter of the Holy Quran) with clarity and fluency and Chapter 112 of the Holy Quran. He then paused for a breath while still standing and raised his hands up to the sides of his face and said, ‘Allah is great,’ while still standing. He then bent down for Ruku‘ (kneeling). He then placed his palms over his knees allowing them to be filled up with his knees that were separate from each other, and pressed them backward until his back became so straightly level that even if there had been a drop of water or oil it would not flow to any side. He stretched his neck forward, lowered his eyes and then said with clarity and fluency three times, ‘I praise my Lord, the Great, Who is free of all defects.’ He then stood up straight. While standing straight he said, ‘Allah hears all those who praise Him.’ He then while standing raised his hands up to the sides of his face and said, ‘Allah is great.’ Then he bowed down for sajdah. He opened his palms with his fingers close side by side, placed them near his knees on the sides next to his face and said, ‘I praise my Lord, the most High who is free of all defects,’ three times. He did not place any other part of his body on any other part thereof. He performed sajdah on eight parts of his bones: his palms, knees, big toes of his feet, his forehead and his nose. He (the Imam) said, ‘Placing seven parts of these bones on the ground is obligatory during sajdah but one of them (the nose) is not obligatory. This is what Allah has spoken of in the Quran, “The parts of the body to be placed on the ground during sajdah belong to Allah, you then must not worship anyone other than Allah.” (72:17) Such parts are forehead, palms, knees and big toes of feet. Placing one’s nose on the ground is optional.’ He then raised his head from sajdah. When he sat up straight, he then said, ‘Allah is great.’ He then sat on his left thigh placing the back of his right foot over the sole of his left foot and then said, ‘I seek forgiveness from Allah, my Lord and turn to Him in repentance.’ He then said, ‘Allah is great.’ Then he bowed down for second sajdah, saying therein what he said in the first sajdah. He did not place any other part of his body on any other part during Ruku‘ or sajdah. He spread his elbows and did not place his arms on the ground. In this way, he performed two Rak‘ats of Salah (prayer). He (the Imam) kept the fingers of his hands close side by side when saying the two testimonies in a sitting position. When he finished saying the testimonies, he then read Sal am and said, ‘O Hammad, you must perform Salah (prayer) like this.’” (Ahadith 2-7 are best explained by fatwa.)

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.