He gathered his people and said, "People of the Asharis, gather together and bring your women and children, and I will teach you the prayer of the Prophet ﷺ which he prayed for us in Medina."So they assembled and brought their women and children. He performed ablution and showed them how he performed it, completing the ablution thoroughly to its proper places. When the shadow began to lengthen and the sun had passed its zenith, he stood and called the adhan. He arranged the men in the front row, the boys in a row behind them, and the women in a row behind the boys. Then he called the iqamah, stepped forward, raised his hands, and pronounced the takbir. He recited the Opening of the Book and a short surah, then said the takbir and bowed, saying, "Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him," three times. Then he said, "Allah hears whoever praises Him," and rose upright. Then he said the takbir and fell into prostration. Then he said the takbir and raised his head. Then he said the takbir and prostrated again. Then he said the takbir and rose to his feet. So his takbirs in the first rakah were six. He said the takbir when he stood for the second rakah.When he finished his prayer, he turned his face toward his people and said, "Memorize my takbirs and learn my bowing and prostration, for this is the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ which he used to pray for us at this hour of the day."Then, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished his prayer, he turned his face toward the people and said, "People, listen, understand, and know that Allah has servants who are neither prophets nor martyrs, yet the prophets and martyrs envy them for their gatherings and their nearness to Allah."A bedouin man from the edge of the crowd knelt forward and gestured with his hand toward the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and said, "Prophet of Allah, people who are neither prophets nor martyrs, yet the prophets and martyrs envy them for their gatherings and their nearness to Allah? Describe them to us, make them known to us," meaning, depict them for us, give us their likeness.The face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ brightened at the bedouin's question, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "They are people from the various branches of mankind and from scattered tribes, with no close kinship ties binding them. They love one another for Allah's sake and are pure with one another. On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will set up for them pulpits of light and seat them upon them, making their faces light and their garments light. People will be terrified on the Day of Resurrection, but they will not be terrified. They are the friends of Allah, upon whom there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."
جمع قومه، فقال: يا معشر الأشعريين اجتمعوا وأجمعوا نساءكم وأبناءكم، وأعلمكم صلاة النبي ﷺ التي صلى لنا بالمدينة، فاجتمعوا وجمعوا نساءهم وأبناءهم، فتوضا وأراهم كيف يتوضأ فأحصى الوضوء إلى أماكنه حتى لما أن فاء الفيء وانكسر الظل، قام فأذن، فصف الرجال في أدنى الصف، وصف الولدان خلفهم، وصف النساء خلف الولدان، ثم أقام الصلاة، فتقدم فرفع يديه وكبر، فقرا بفاتحة الكتاب وسورة يسر هما، ثم كبر فركع فقال: سبحان الله وبحمده ثلاث مرار، ثم قال: سمع الله لمن حمده واستوى قائما، ثم كبر وخر ساجدا، ثم كبر فرفع رأسه، ثم كبر فسجد، ثم كبر فانتهض قائما، فكان تكبيره في أول ركعة ست تكبيرات، وكبر حين قام إلى الركعة الثانية، فلما قضى صلاته أقبل إلى قومه بوجهه، فقال: احفظوا تكبيري، وتعلموا ركوعي وسجودي، فانها صلاة رسول الله ﷺ التي كان يصلي لنا كذي الساعة من النهار. ثم إن رسول الله ﷺ لما قضى صلاته أقبل إلى الناس بوجهه فقال: يا أيها الناس، اسمعوا واعقلوا، واعلموا أن الله عبادا ليسوا بأنبياء ولا شهد اء يغبطهم النبيون والشهداء على مجالسهم وقر بيهم من الله، فجشى رجل من الأعراب من قاصية الناس وألوى بيده إلى نبي الله ﷺ، فقال: يا نبي الله، ناس من الناس، ليسوا بأنبياء ولا شهداء، يغيطهم الأنبياء والشهداء على مجالسهم وقربهم من الله؟ انعتهم لنا حلهم لنا- يعني: ضفهم لنا شكلهم لنا فسر وجه رسول الله ﷺ لسؤال الاعرابي فقال رسول الله ﷺ: هم ناس من أفناء الناس ونوازع القبائل، لم تصل بينهم أرحام متقاربة تحابوا في الله وتصافوا، يضع الله لهم يوم القيامة منابر من نور، فيجلسهم عليها فيجعل وجوههم نورا وثيابهم نورا، يفزع الناس يوم القيامة ولا يفزعون، وهم أولياء الله الذين لا خوف عليهم ولا هم يحزنون.
Imam Ahmad narrated it (22906) from Abu Nadr, who said, Abdul-Hameed bin Bahram Fazari told us, from Shahr bin Hawshab, who said, Abdul-Rahman bin Ghanm told us, that Abu Malik Ashari gathered his people and he mentioned the hadith in similar fashion.Haythami said in Al-Majmu (2788), and in a narration reported by him, "He prayed Dhuhr, reciting the Opening of the Book, and said the takbir twenty-two times." And in another narration, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he used to make the four rakats equal in recitation and standing, making the first rakat the longest of them so that people could join in, and he would say the takbir every time he prostrated and every time he bowed, and he would say the takbir every time he rose between the two rakats when he had been sitting.He said, Ahmad narrated all of it, and Tabarani narrated part of it in Al-Kabir, and in all of its chains is Shahr bin Hawshab, about whom there is some discussion, but he is reliable, Allah willing. End of quote.I say, it is as he said, for Shahr bin Hawshab is not accused of dishonesty, nor of gross error, and he has been deemed reliable by Ibn Main, Ajli, and Yaqub bin Shayba. Imam Ahmad said, "There is no harm in him." Uthman Darimi said, "It has reached me that Ahmad used to praise Shahr." Tirmidhi said, "Ahmad said, there is no harm in the hadith of Abdul-Hameed bin Bahram from Shahr," and he said, quoting Bukhari, "Shahr's hadith is hasan, and his standing is strong."I say, someone like him has his hadith graded hasan so long as nothing objectionable comes from him. This hadith was previously cited in brief in the book of wudu, in the chapter on the description of the Prophet's ﷺ wudu.Among the hadiths about opening the prayer with the takbir, from the saying of the Prophet ﷺ, "What makes prayer forbidden [to break] is the takbir, and what releases it is the tasleem," it has come from Ali bin Abu Talib, Abu Saeed Khudri, Ibn Abbas, Abdullah bin Zayd, and Abdullah bin Masud, but none of these is sound except the hadith of Ali bin Abu Talib, and its citation was completed in the book of wudu.As for the hadith of Abu Saeed, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah narrated it, and in its chain is Abu Sufyan Tarif bin Shihab, who is daif. As for the hadith of Ibn Abbas, Abdullah bin Zayd, and Abdullah bin Masud, Tabarani narrated it, and in their chains are weak and unknown narrators. See the place referred to above for more.