Is it established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not sit for the rest between the two units of prayer?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, there is no hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported not to have sat for the sitting of rest. On the contrary, there is a hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to sit for the sitting of rest, in the hadith of Malik ibn al-Huwayrith in "Sahih al-Bukhari," and in the hadith of Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi in Abu Dawud, whose original source is also in al-Bukhari. Abu Dawud's hadith is narrated by Abu Humayd in the presence of ten of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). In it, Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi—who was one of them—said to the Companions around him: "Shall I show you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" They said to him: "Why? You are not the most knowledgeable of us about his prayer." He said to them: "Yes, I am the most knowledgeable." They said to him: "Then show it to us." He began to pray from the beginning of the prayer to the end. When he came to rising from the second prostration to the second rak'ah, he sat and then rose. This sitting is mentioned in the hadith of Abu Humayd, who showed the description of the prayer to the Companions to indicate to them how the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to pray, even though they were Companions like him who had witnessed the Messenger (peace be upon him) just as he had witnessed them. However, it appears that he had a special concern for observing the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); therefore, he said to them: "Shall I show you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" It seems they were reluctant to have a man like them, who did not distinguish himself from them by the seniority of his companionship, show them the prayer. Therefore, they said to him: "You are not the most knowledgeable of us about his prayer." He said to them: "It is not as you say; rather, I am the most knowledgeable of you about his prayer." When they saw that he was insistent on that, they said to him: "Then show it to us." When he finished showing them the prayer of the Prophet, which included the sitting of rest, they said to him: "You have spoken the truth. This was the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)."
By this text and the previous text—which is the hadith of Malik ibn al-Huwayrith—it is established that there was no disagreement among the Companions that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he prayed a prayer, would sit for the sitting of rest. From this, we say that the correct view is what Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book "al-Majmu' Sharh al-Muhadhdhab," where he alerted the readers to the necessity of maintaining the sitting of rest, because it was established in the narration of this group of Companions without any contradiction from the other Companions.
On this occasion, it is necessary to point out that one should not be deceived by what is mentioned in the book "Zad al-Ma'ad" in its discussion of this sunnah, which is the sitting of rest. There, it is mentioned in a way that leads the reader to believe that Ibn al-Qayyim follows some of the Imams in holding that this sitting of rest is not a devotional sunnah, but rather that it was from his (peace be upon him) actions due to his need for his age; that is, when he grew old and aged, he would sit for a sitting of rest, not a sitting of worship. This is how Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentions it, relying on some opinions of some Imams without any evidence that would compel one who reads his words to adhere to it. We say that interpreting this sitting as the Messenger (peace be upon him) having done it out of need and not as an act of worship is a great deviation from observing what we mentioned regarding the agreement of the Companions on mentioning this sitting in the description of the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
It is very far-fetched for the absent one to see what the witness does not see; because it is contrary to the Prophetic report first, and contrary to what every person of intellect feels second. The Prophetic hadith says: , and this is what sound reason requires. Therefore, the claim that the sitting of rest was done by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) out of need is contrary to the previous hadith: . How is this? Ibn al-Qayyim is the absent one, and those who preceded him in holding a similar view, namely that the sitting of rest was done by the Messenger out of a need in his body due to age or weakness; this statement came from one who was absent from witnessing the action and prayer of the Messenger (peace be upon him). Whereas Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi and with him ten of the Companions, and possibly including Malik ibn al-Huwayrith who narrated the hadith of the sitting independently of the group, all of them agree on two things:
First: That the Messenger (peace be upon him) sat for the sitting of rest in his prayer. Second: That it is part of the completion of the description of the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If it were true what Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) held, that the Messenger did this sitting out of need, it would not have been hidden from those Companions. And if the matter were so—that is, if those Companions saw that this sitting of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was done out of need—they would not have been permitted to include it in the chain of the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because of what is involved in introducing what is not part of the worship into the worship, what is not part of the prayer into the prayer. It is not conceivable that such an introduction could occur from a single Companion, let alone from a group; especially when one of them challenged them that he knew the description of the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) better than they did; therefore, he offered to show them the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They said to him: "Show it to us." When he showed what he had, and in this showing it was mentioned that the Messenger (peace be upon him) sat for the sitting of greeting, they believed him and said to him explicitly: "This was the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)."
Therefore, it is not permissible to attribute error to these Companions; meaning that they introduced into the prayer what is not part of it. This is the furthest thing from the truth. And by this, it is established that the sitting of rest is a confirmed sunnah that the Messenger (peace be upon him) performed, without any other report coming that clarifies that he left it, even occasionally. Therefore, we are with the Shafi'is, and specifically with Imam al-Nawawi, who insisted that the one who prays should maintain this sunnah, at a time when the majority of the Shafi'is neglected it, although they find this sunnah in their books, and then they do not perform it, let alone the Hanafis and Malikis who find explicit statements regarding the dislike of this sitting. This is contrary to the correct sunnah.
This is what we have regarding this issue.