#677 We were informed by Abu ‘Asim, from ‘Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja‘far, [who said] Muhammad ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Ata’ narrated to me, saying: I heard Abu Humayd al-Sa‘idi among ten of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh), one of whom was Abu Qatadah, say: "I am the most knowledgeable among you of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh)." They said: "Why? For you were not the most frequent of us in following him, nor the earliest of us in companionship with him." He said: "Indeed [I am]." They said: "Then demonstrate [it]." He said: "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to, when he stood for prayer, raise his hands until they were level with his shoulders, then say the Takbir until every bone settled in its place. Then he would recite, then say the Takbir and raise his hands until they were level with his shoulders. Then he would bow and place his palms upon his knees until every bone returned to its place, neither drooping his head nor cocking it upward. Then he would raise his head and say: 'Allah hears the one who praises Him,' then he would raise his hands until they were level with his shoulders—Abu ‘Asim thinks he said: until every bone returned to its place while standing straight. Then he would say: 'Allahu Akbar,' then descend to the ground and keep his arms away from his sides. Then he would prostrate, then raise his head and bend his left leg and sit upon it, and he would spread his toes when he prostrated. Then he would return and prostrate, then raise his head and say: 'Allahu Akbar,' and bend his left leg and sit upon it straight until every bone returned to its place while upright. Then he would stand and do the same in the next rak‘ah. When he stood after the two prostrations, he said the Takbir and raised his hands until they were level with his shoulders as he did at the beginning of the prayer. Then he would do the same for the rest of his prayer, until, when it was the prostration or the sitting in which the Taslim is performed, he would push back his left leg and sit in the tawarruk position on his left side." He said: They said: "You have spoken the truth; this is how the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was."