He used to lead them in prayer, saying the takbir every time he bent down and rose up. When he finished, he would say, "By Allah, I am the one among you whose prayer most resembles the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."
أنه كان يصلي لهم، فيكبر كلما خفض وارفع. فإذا انصراف قال: والله إني لأشبهكم بصلاة رسول الله ﷺ.
Malik related it in the Book of Prayer (19), from Ibn Shihab, from Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman bin Awf, that Abu Hurairah used to lead them in prayer, then he mentioned it. Bukhari related it through Malik's route in the Book of Adhan (785), and Muslim in the Book of Prayer (392:27). Muslim also related it through other routes from Ibn Shihab at greater length and in more detail, as mentioned previously in the chapter before this one.In a version found in Muslim (392:31), we said, "Abu Hurairah, what is this takbir?" He said, "This is indeed the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."This indicates that some people were not raising their voices in takbir except for the takbir of ihram, so Abu Hurairah taught them by saying, "I am indeed the most similar of you in prayer to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ," and because moving from one position to another requires raising the voice in takbir.The practice then became established according to this hadith of Abu Hurairah. So in every two-rakat prayer there are eleven instances of takbir, which is the takbir of ihram plus five in each rakat. In a three-rakat prayer there are seventeen, which is the takbir of ihram, the takbir for standing up from the first tashahhud, and five in each rakat. In four-rakat prayers there are twenty-two instances of takbir.