The Book of Mosques and Places of Prayer-05b

The reciter: Amr al-Naqid and Zuhr ibn Harb both narrated to me from Ibn Uyaynah. Amr said: Sufyan ibn Uyaynah narrated to us, saying: Ayub narrated to us, saying: I heard Muhammad ibn Sirin say: I heard Abu Hurayrah say: .

The Shaykh : This hadith is referred to by scholars as the Hadith of Dhu al-Yadayn, because Dhu al-Yadayn is the one who addressed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding his prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed one of the two evening prayers. "Al-'Ashi" refers to the time from the sun's zenith to sunset, so it must be either the midday prayer or the afternoon prayer. However, some wordings specify that it was the afternoon prayer. Therefore, the uncertainty is from the narrator. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) concluded the prayer with two units, then went to a wooden post displayed in the mosque and stood leaning against it, angry. The reason for this anger was that his soul (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was not at ease because his worship was not completed. This is a mercy from Allah the Exalted for the servant: if there is a deficiency in his worship, it affects his mood without him realizing it. Thus, when the prayer was not completed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) became withdrawn and appeared angry. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) stood up from his prayer place to this wooden post, leaned on it, interlaced his fingers, placed his cheek on the back of his hand, and was angry. There is no doubt that this was a scene of awe, a scene of great awe. He said: Among them were Abu Bakr and 'Umar. With the people were Abu Bakr and 'Umar, and these two men were his closest companions. Yet they were afraid to speak to him, because the scene, as I told you, was one of awe and greatness. They were afraid to address him. The people left quickly. They left, and it appears they knew he had prayed two units, but they thought the prayer had been shortened. They left, but there was a man among the people whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called Dhu al-Yadayn because his hands were long. This is a natural trait. Most people, praise be to Allah, have hands proportionate to their bodies, but sometimes hands are very short, and sometimes they are long. This man had long hands, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called him Dhu al-Yadayn. He had the boldness to speak to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to joke with him and be at ease with him. He said this strange statement, which even the greatest philosopher could not express with such speed. He said: There is no possibility in this except one that cannot happen, which is that he intentionally concluded the prayer before completing it. This did not happen because it is impossible. So he was either forgetful, or the ruling was abrogated, or he intentionally concluded the prayer before it ended. This is the logical division. But the third option is impossible, religiously impossible for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), because he could not intentionally conclude the prayer before completion. So only two possibilities remained: forgetfulness and abrogation. Abrogation means shortening, abrogated from completion to shortening. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as in other wordings: . Denying the shortening is denying a religious ruling, meaning he denied the abrogation. This cannot be mistaken, because if the abrogation had been established, he would not have denied it. He also denied forgetfulness. When he denied the abrogation, which is the shortening of the prayer, Dhu al-Yadayn said: Yes, you forgot. Yes, you forgot. Because forgetfulness can occur, but denying the shortening while it is established cannot occur. But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), having a strong belief that he had not forgotten, asked the Companions. Because there was a conflict in his mind between what he believed in himself and the statement of Dhu al-Yadayn. He sought the stronger evidence. They said to him: Yes, you forgot. So he moved forward to his place (peace and blessings be upon him) and prayed the remainder of his prayer. Then he spoke afterwards.