Benefits of the Hadith: (Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would open the prayer with the takbir, and the recitation: with al-Hamdu lillahi Rabbil 'Alamin. And when he bowed, he did not raise his head nor straighten it, but kept it in between. And when he raised from the bowing, he did not prostrate until he stood upright. And when he raised his head from the prostration, he did not prostrate until he sat upright. And he would say the tashahhud in every two rak'ahs. And he would spread his left foot and point his right foot. And he would forbid the devil's hump, and forbid a man to spread his arms like a beast. And he would close the prayer with the taslim. Muslim narrated it, and it has a defect.)

The Shaykh : Among the benefits of this hadith is Aisha's (may Allah be pleased with her) precise knowledge of the conditions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his words, actions, acts of worship, and dealings, because his wives were the most intimate with him, for they knew of his private matters what others did not.
And among them is the breadth of her knowledge (may Allah be pleased with her), as she narrated this entire hadith with its general and specific details.
And among them is the prescription of opening the prayer with the takbir. This takbir is a pillar of the prayer, and the prayer is not valid without it, and it must be with this specific phrase, Allahu Akbar. If one were to say its meaning instead, it would not be valid. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding a person who does not know the adhkar except in his own language: should he recite them in his language, or is he obligated to learn them in Arabic? The correct view is that it is permissible for him to recite them in his language. As for the Qur'an, it is known that it is not permissible to translate it. But as for the adhkar, there is no harm, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knows the language of every people.
And among the benefits of this hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not recite the opening supplication, the seeking of refuge, or the Basmala aloud, based on her statement (may Allah be pleased with her): "and the recitation: with al-Hamdu lillahi Rabbil 'Alamin".
And among them is that a person does not place the surah after al-Fatihah before al-Fatihah, as this was not prescribed. If he did so intentionally as a form of play, his prayer is invalid. If he did so intentionally but not as a form of play, his prayer is not invalid, but he has made a mistake. If he forgot, then he owes nothing, but he should recite the surah after al-Fatihah. And should he prostrate for forgetfulness?
It was said that he should prostrate for forgetfulness as a recommendation, not as an obligation, because such a statement does not invalidate the prayer if done intentionally, but he performed it in the wrong place. They said that whoever performs a prescribed statement in the wrong place, it is recommended for him to prostrate for forgetfulness. Based on this, if someone forgot and recited the surah before al-Fatihah, we tell him: recite al-Fatihah, then recite the surah, then prostrate for forgetfulness. Is it recommended or obligatory?
The student: Recommended.

The Shaykh : Recommended, and we do not say it is obligatory, because if a person did it intentionally, his prayer would not be invalidated.
And among the benefits of this hadith is the prescription of bowing in the prayer, and it is a pillar of the pillars of the prayer, because Allah the Exalted used it to describe the prayer. And when Allah describes a whole by a part, it indicates that this part must exist in the whole. This rule was mentioned by Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), the Shaykh al-Islam, in "The Book of Faith", that if a thing is described by a part of it, it indicates that this part is obligatory in that whole. Did Allah the Exalted describe the prayer with bowing?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : In which verse?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : In which verse? I mean, in which surah.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : No, this is not in al-Baqarah.
The student: .

The Shaykh : Okay, the obligatory aspect of bowing is bending, but does it have a standard? It was said that the standard for bending is that a person of average height in his arms can touch his knees. And it was said that the obligatory aspect is that the bowing is closer to full standing than to full bowing, because the bending may be closer to standing, or closer to bowing, or equal, meaning it is neither fully upright nor fully bowed. They said that the obligatory aspect is that it is closer to full bowing than to full standing. And I think this is close in meaning, meaning that if you look at a person of average arm length, you would find that if he can touch his knees, it is closer to full bowing than to full standing.
And among the benefits of this hadith is that the Sunnah in bowing is not to raise the head nor lower it from the back, based on her statement (may Allah be pleased with her): "he did not raise his head nor straighten it, but kept it in between". And it is known that if the head is in between, it will be level?
The student: With the back.

The Shaykh : With the back? Yes. And does this include straightening the back with the head, or raising the back with the head? Yes. So, for example, we have four things:
Raising the head and the back, and lowering the head and the back, because some people are found bowing, lowering their back and head at once. The second is that the back is level but the head is raised, this is the third. The fourth is that the back is level but the head is lowered. So she negated the raising and lowering of the head, whether with the back or not. So uprightness is what is required. For this reason, it was mentioned that among the characteristics of the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in his bowing is that he .
And among the benefits of this hadith is the prescription of rising from the bowing, based on her statement (may Allah be pleased with her): meaning until he is stable standing. And this is a pillar of the pillars of the prayer. So if a person, while bowing, prostrates before he stands up, he has left a pillar of the pillars of the prayer. Is that clear?
The student: It is clear.

The Shaykh : So it is necessary that he rises until he is upright standing.
And among the benefits of this hadith is the prescription of prostration, based on his statement: . And rising from the prostration is a pillar of the pillars of the prayer, and it is necessary.
And among the benefits of this hadith, yes, is that it is obligatory to remain sitting after the prostration until one is stable, based on her statement: "when he raised his head from the prostration, he did not prostrate until he sat upright". And this sitting is a pillar of the pillars of the prayer.
Yes
And among the benefits of this hadith, yes, is the tashahhud in every two rak'ahs, whether it is a two-rak'ah prayer, a three-rak'ah prayer, or a four-rak'ah prayer, is that not so?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : The two-rak'ah prayer, like Fajr, so one does the tashahhud in the second rak'ah. The three-rak'ah prayer, like Maghrib. The four-rak'ah prayer, like Zuhr, 'Asr, and 'Isha. Is this tashahhud a pillar or not? We say that the context of the hadith indicates that it is a pillar, because she mentioned it with the pillars. But the Sunnah explains some of it and restricts some of it. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he left the first tashahhud one day, and he made up for this omission with the prostration for forgetfulness. And the pillars are not made up for with the prostration for forgetfulness. So this indicates that the first tashahhud is obligatory, but it is dropped by forgetfulness and made up for with two prostrations before the taslim, exactly as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did.
If someone asks, does her statement include the obligatory and the voluntary prayers? The answer is that it includes the obligatory and the voluntary, because what is established in the obligatory is established in the voluntary, and what is established in the voluntary is established in the obligatory, except by evidence. And the evidence that what is established in the voluntary is established in the obligatory, and what is established in the obligatory is established in the voluntary, except by evidence, is that when the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) , their exception indicates that it is what? It indicates that it is established with them that what is established in the voluntary is established in the obligatory, except by evidence. And based on this, we say that in the voluntary prayers, a single rak'ah is permissible, like witr, and five with one taslim, and seven with one taslim, and nine with one taslim, except that he sits in the second and does the tashahhud and does not say taslim. Three rak'ahs have two characteristics mentioned: if one does witr with three, there are two characteristics:
The first is that he says taslim after two rak'ahs, then he performs one. The second is that he does witr with three in succession without tashahhud, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade making witr resemble the Maghrib prayer. The remaining voluntary prayers, one says taslim from every two rak'ahs. And so it is necessary to do the tashahhud in every two rak'ahs.
And what has been reported regarding the virtue of praying before the Zuhr prayer, yes, four rak'ahs with a single taslim, is weak and cannot be relied upon. The night and day prayers are performed in pairs of two, and many scholars have verified the word "day" in this, including Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him), who stated that this word is an addition and that "day" is a correct addition.
One of the benefits of this hadith is that what is prescribed in the sitting during prayer is for the worshipper to spread his left foot and erect his right foot, and this has been explained to you previously. However, the apparent meaning of the hadith is that this applies in all prayers, meaning the three-rak'ah and four-rak'ah prayers as well as the two-rak'ah prayers. One might say that this is not the apparent meaning of the hadith, because she said: meaning he spreads his foot in this tashahhud. This is correct; whenever a person sits for the tashahhud in two rak'ahs, he spreads his foot. Is that clear?
The student: It is clear.

The Shaykh : One might say that it is not the apparent meaning of the hadith that this applies in the three-rak'ah and four-rak'ah prayers in both tashahhuds. If someone insists on saying that the apparent meaning of the hadith is that he spreads his left foot and erects his right foot in the sittings of the prayer for the first and second tashahhuds, we say that this apparent meaning is refuted by what came explicitly in the hadith of Abu Humayd and others, that in the three-rak'ah and four-rak'ah prayers, he sits in the tawarruk position in the final tashahhud and does not spread his foot. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on this issue. Some said that he spreads his foot in all sittings of the prayer, in the first and second tashahhuds and between the two prostrations. Others made a distinction, and this distinction is the correct one. So, the final tashahhud?
The student: Tawarruk.

The Shaykh : Tawarruk. The first tashahhud?
The student: Iftirash.

The Shaykh : Iftirash. The sitting between the two prostrations?
The student: Iftirash.

The Shaykh : Iftirash.
And one of the benefits of this hadith is the prohibition of imitating Satan, based on her saying:
If someone says that the hadith prohibited imitating Satan in one thing, which is the sitting, how do you generalize? The answer to this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) attributed the 'aqibah to Satan to disparage it, because it is the sitting of Satan.
Second, we have a general hadith, which is that and no one can be pleased with imitating Satan. It was previously stated regarding the 'aqibah of Satan that one erects his feet and sits on his heels. The apparent meaning of this hadith is general, because whether the sitting is between the two prostrations or in the tashahhuds, this is what the followers of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) held, and they said that this sitting is disliked. However, Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) mentioned that this iq'a' is from the Sunnah. It is not far-fetched that Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) doing this and did not know about what he did later, which was to spread his foot or sit in tawarruk. My saying "it is not far-fetched" does not mean certainty, but it is not far-fetched, just as 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) did in the application and standing between the ma'mumin. Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) would stand between the ma'mumin, meaning if they prayed in three, he would stand between them. But this ruling was abrogated by the fact that if the congregation is three, their imam stands in front of them. Second, the application is placing his hands on the other between his thighs when he bows. He (may Allah be pleased with him) held onto this even though it was abrogated, because when a man bows, where does he place his hands? On his knees. So it is not far-fetched that Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) was in the same situation as 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.
And one of the benefits of this hadith is the prohibition of the worshipper spreading his arms like the spread of a beast of prey. The beast of prey here refers to the dog. How does it spread? When it prostrates, it places its arms on the ground like the spread of a dog. Yes, because the human being is commanded to erect his arms and be upright in prostration.
And one of the benefits of this hadith is the wisdom of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in strongly deterring from the action. The first he said, what? The 'aqibah of Satan, and the second the spread of the dog or the beast of prey. This is called by the rhetoricians "simile for disparagement," because similes have types, one of which is the simile for disparagement.
And one of the benefits of this hadith is that the conclusion of the prayer is with the taslim. It is prescribed at the conclusion of the prayer to say the taslim, saying "As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah." It was previously explained in the commentary of the hadith whether the "al" in "al" is for the known or for indicating the reality? If we say it is for the known, how many taslims are there?
The student: Two taslims.

The Shaykh : There would be two taslims. And if we say it is for indicating the reality, it is permissible to suffice with one. The correct view is that it is for the known and that two taslims are necessary.