Samra bin Jundub · Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them

“Mu’awiyah sent word to Umm Salamah, and I went with his envoy who put the question to Umm Salamah. She said: ‘While the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was performing ablution for the Zuhr in my house and he had sent a Sa’i,* the Muhajirun gathered around him in large numbers, and he was busy dealing with them. When a knock on the door came, he went out and performed the Zuhr, then he sat and distributed what had been brought…

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) fell ill, and we prayed behind him while he was sitting down, and Abu Bakr was saying the Takbir so that the people could hear them. He turned to us and saw us standing, so he gestured to us to sit down. When he had said the Salam, he said: ‘You were about to do the action of the Persians and Romans, who remain standing while their kings are seated. Do not do that. Follow…

“I said to my father: ‘O my father! You prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and behind Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman, and behind ‘Ali here in Kufah for about five years. Did they recite Qunut in Fajr?’ He said: ‘O my son! That is an innovation.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever purifies himself in his house, then comes to the Quba’ Mosque and offers one prayer therein, will have a reward like that for ‘Umrah.”