In our journey through the mechanics of Salah, we have covered the Conditions, Pillars, and Obligations. While those form the “skeleton” of your prayer, the Sunnahs of Prayer are what provide it with beauty, spirit, and extra reward.
A Sunnah is an act that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ performed or encouraged. While omitting them does not invalidate your prayer, practicing them brings you closer to the perfection of worship demonstrated by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The Sunnahs of prayer
1. Raising the hands, which is done in four places:
when saying the opening takbeer, when ” bowing, when rising from bowing, and when standing up following the first tashahhud.
That is because of the hadith of Ibn Umar who said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah when he
started the prayer, raising his hands until they were level with his shoulders, and before he bowed, and when he rose from bowing, but he did not raise them between the tWO prostrations.” Agreed upon.
And in the hadith of Abu Humayd it says: “Then when he stood up following the two rakahs, he said takbeer and raised his hands until they were level with his shoulders, as he had said takbeer when Starting the prayer.” Narrated by Abu Dawud;classed as sahih by al-Albani.
How the hands are to be raised: straighten the fingers, leaving no gaps between them, because of the report narrated from Abu Hurayrah who said: When the Messenger of Allah started to pray, he would raise his hands, holding his fingers Straight. Narrated by Abu Dawud; classed as sahih by al-Albani.
2.Placing the right hand over the left hand whilst standing.
That is because of the hadith of Sahl ibn Sa‘d in as-Sahihayn, in which he said: “The people were instructed that a man should place his right hand over his left forearm when praying.”
In the hadith of Wa‘il ibn Hujr i^^it says: “Then he placed his right hand over his left hand, wrist and forearm.” Narrated by Abu Dawud; classed as sahih by al-Albani.
He may place his hands on his chest, or above his navel, or below it. The matter is broad in scope, because there is no proven hadith with regard to placement of the hands whilst standing.
3. Opening supplication dua al-istiftah.
Before starting to recite, the best is to recite one of the opening supplications that are proven in the Sunnah, choosing a different one each time. They include the following:
« Allahumma baa’id bayni wa bayna khataayaaya kamaa baa’adta bayn al-mashriqi wa’lmaghrib. Allahumma naqqini min khataayaaya kamaa yunaqqaa ath-thawb ul-abyad min ad-danas. Allahumma ighsilni min khataayaaya bi ’th-thalji wa’l-maa’i wa’l-barad (O Allah, separate me (far) from my sins as You have separated (far) the East from the West. O Allah, cleanse me of my sins as white cloth is cleansed from dirt. O Allah, wash me of my sins with snow, water and ice).» Agreed upon.
« Subhan aka Allahumma wa bi hamdika, wa tabarak asmuka, wa ta’aala jadduka wa laa ilaaha ghayruka (Glory and praise be to You, O Allah; blessed be Your name, exalted be Your Majesty, and there is no god worthy of worship except You).» Narrated by Abu Dawud; classed as sahih by al-Albani.
«Allahu akbaru kabeera wa’l-hamdu Lillahi katheera wa subhan/Mlahi bukratan wa aseela… (Allah is most Great, mud) praise be to Allah and glory be to Allah at the beginning and end of the day).» Narrated by Muslim.
4.Seeking refuge with Allah before starting to recite Quran.
That is because Allah says: {So when you recite the Qur’an, (first] seek refuge in Allahfrom Satan, the expelled (from His mercy]] (an-Nahl 16:98).
5.The Basmalah.
It is Sunnah for the worshipper to recite the Basmalah (“Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem (in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”)) quietly before starting to recite al-Fatihah and before starting to recite whatever follows al-Fatihah.
Benefit
Reciting the Basmalah out loud:
It is not Sunnah to recite the Basmalah out loud when reciting al-Fatihah in prayer.
At-Tirmidhi said: Th is was the practice of most of the scholars among the Companions of the Prophet
6.Ta’meen
Ta’meen (saying “Aameen”) is Sunnah for every worshipper at the end of al-Fatihah he is leading the prayer, praying behind an imam, or praying alone. If the prayer is one recitation is done out loud, then it is encouraged for the imam and those praying behii both say Aameen out loud, because the Prophet said: «When the imam says. then say Aameen, for the angels say Aameen, and if a person’s saying Aameen coincide that of the angels, his previous sins will be forgiven for him.» Narrated by al-Bukhari.
7.Reciting something in addition to al-Fatihah.
The evidence for that is the words of Abu Hurayrah “Whoever recites the Essence of
the Book (al-Fatihah), that is sufficient for him, and whoever recites more than that, that is better.” Agreed upon.
8.Reciting out loud and reciting quietly.
It is Sunnah to recite out loud in Fajr prayer and in the first two rakahs of Maghrib and Isha; and to recite quietly in all other rakahs of the obligatory prayers.
The evidence for that is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah “In every prayer there is recitation. What the Prophet made us hear [by reciting out loud] we make you hear, and whatever
he hid from us [by reciting quietly] we hide from you.” Agreed upon.
9.Placing the hands on the knees with the fingers spread apart when bowing, and keeping the back straight with the head in line with the back.
That is because of the hadith of Ibn Umar, according to which the Prophet said: «When you bow, place your palms on your knees, then spread your fingers apart. » Narrated by Ibn Hibban; classed as hasan by al-Albani.
10.Holding the arms away from the sides when bowing and prostrating
That is because of the hadith of Abu Humayd who said: “And he [the Prophet put his hands on his knees and held his elbows away from his sides.” Narrated by Abu Dawud; classed as sahih by al-Albani.
11.Reciting extra tasbeeh when bowing and prostrating
That is because Anas ibn Malik said: I have never seen anyone whose prayer more closely resembled that of the Messenger of Allah than this young man – meaning
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. We figured out that when he bowed, he said tasbeeh ten times, and when he prostrated, he said tasbeeh ten times. Narrated by Abu Dawud; classed ashasan by al- Albani.
12.Sitting in the manner called iftirash
This means that the worshipper sits on his left foot, which is spread on the ground, and holds his right foot upright, with the toes pointing in the direction of the qiblah. That is because of the report narrated from Ibn Umar according to which he said: “The Sunnah when praying is to hold your right foot upright and bend the left leg.” Narrated by al-Bukhan.
This manner of sitting is done when sitting for the first tashahhud, when sitting between the two prostrations, and when sitting for the tashahhud in a two-rakah prayer. However, when sitting for the final tashahhud in a four-rakah prayer and Maghrib prayer, the worshipper should sit in the manner that is called tawarruk, which will be explained below.
13.Sitting [kneeling] with the buttocks on the feet
It was narrated that Tawus said: We said something to Ibn Abbas about sitting (kneeling) with the buttocks on the feet, and he said: It is the Sunnah. We said: We think that it is difficult for a man. Ibn Abbas said: Rather it is the Sunnah of your Prophet Narrated by Muslim.
14.Sitting in the manner called tawarruk
It is Sunnah to sit in this manner in the final tashahhud in a prayer in which there are two tashahhuds. It may be done in more than one way:
The first is where the left foot protrudes from under the right thigh, resting on the ground, and the person sits on his buttocks, holding the right foot upright.
The second is where both feet rest on the ground, and are both held out on one side.
The third is where the right foot rests on the ground, the person places his left foot between the thigh and calf [of his right leg] and sits on his buttocks. The reports of the Sunnah mention all three types.
15.Pointing with the forefinger when reciting the tashahhud
It was narrated from Ibn Umar that when the Messenger of Allah sat to recite the tashahhud, he placed his left hand on his left knee, and he placed his right hand on his right knee, making a shape with his fingers that could indicate the number fifty-three, and he pointed with his forefinger. Narrated by Muslim.
The Messenger of Allah said: “Indeed it is harder on the Shaytan than iron» – meaning the forefinger. Narrated by Ahmad, classed a» »sahih by al-Albani.
16.Looking at the forefinger whilst reciting the tashahhud.
Because it is proven from Abdullah ibn Umar that he saw a man moving pebbles with his hand whilst he was praying.
When he finished praying, Abdullah said to him: Do not move pebbles whilst you are
praying, for that is from the Shaytan. Rather you should do what the Messenger of Allah
used to do.
The man said: What did he use to do?
He said: He used to place his right hand on his right thigh and point towards the qiblah with the finger that is next to the thumb, looking at it. Then he said: This is what I saw the Messenger of Allah doing. Narrated by an-Nasai; classed as sahih by al-Albani.
17.Supplication following the tashahhud and before the tasleem.
That is because of the hadith: «When you sit after every two rakahs, say: ‘At-tahiyyaatu I Allah i wa’s-salawatu wa’t-tayyibat. As-salamu alayka ayyuha’n-Nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibad-illah is-saliheen. Ashhadu an laa ilaaha ilia Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasooluhu. (All compliments, prayers and pure words arc due to Allah. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us -and upon the righteous slaves of Allah. 1 bear witness that there is no god worthy ofworship except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger).’ Then let him choose whatever supplication he likes and call upon Allah with it.» Narrated by an-Nasai; classed as sahih by al-Albani.
18.Turning right and left when saying the tasleem.
It was narrated that Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas said: “I used to see the Messenger of Allah saying the Tasleem to his right and his left, turning so much that I could see the whiteness of his cheek.” Narrated by Muslim.
Looking up to heaven is prohibited and is in fact a major sin, because the Prophet forbade that and spoke sternly about it, to the extent that he said: «People should stop lifting their gaze to heaven whilst praying, or [their sight] will not come back to them. » According to another report he said: or their sight will be snatched away from them. » Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.