Abu Humayd al-Saidi was sitting with ten of the Prophet's ﷺ companions, among whom was Abu Qatada Harith bin Rubai. Abu Humayd al-Saidi said, "I know best among you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."They asked, "How is that? You were not the one who followed him most, nor were you the earliest of us in companionship with him."He replied, "Yes, indeed I do."They said, "Then describe it to us."He said, "When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood for prayer, he would stand upright and raise his hands until they were level with his shoulders. When he wanted to bow, he would raise his hands until they were level with his shoulders, then say, 'Allahu Akbar,' and bow. Then he would settle into bowing without lowering his head nor raising it high, placing his hands on his knees. Then he would say, 'Sami Allahu liman hamidah,' raise his hands, and stand upright until every bone returned to its proper place.Then he would go down to the ground in prostration, saying, 'Allahu Akbar.' He would keep his upper arms away from his sides and spread the toes of his feet. Then he would bend his left leg and sit upon it, and straighten up until every bone returned to its proper place.Then he would go down again in prostration, saying, 'Allahu Akbar.' Then he would bend his leg and sit, straightening up until every bone returned to its place. Then he would rise.Then he would do the same in the second cycle. When he rose from the two prostrations, he would say the takbir and raise his hands until they were level with his shoulders, just as he did when he began the prayer. He continued in this manner until, in the cycle in which his prayer concluded, he drew his left foot back and sat on his side in the mutawarrik posture, then he gave the salam."
عن ابي حميد الساعدي في عشرة من اصحاب النبي ﷺ فيهم ابو قتادة الحارث بن ربعي، فقال ابو حميد الساعدي: انا اعلمكم بصلاة رسول الله ﷺ، قالوا: لم؟ ما كنت اكثرنا له اتباعا، ولا اقدمنا له صحبة؟ قال: بلي، قالوا: فاعرض علينا، قال: فقال: كان رسول الله ﷺ اذا قام الي الصلاة اعتدل قائما، ورفع يديه حتى يحاذي بهما منكبيه، فاذا اراد ان يركع رفع يديه حتى يحاذي بهما منكبيه، ثم قال: الله اكبر، وركع، ثم اعتدل، فلم يصوب راسه، ولم يقنع، ووضع يديه على ركبتيه، ثم قال: سمع الله لمن حمده، ورفع يديه واعتدل، حتى يرجع كل عظم في موضعه معتدلا، ثم اهوي الي الارض ساجدا ثم قال: الله اكبر، ثم جافى عضديه عن إبطيه، وفتح أصابع رجليه، ثم ثنى رجله اليسرى وقعد عليها، ثم اعتدل، حتى يرجع كل عظم في موضعه معتدلا، ثم أهوى ساجدا، ثم قال: الله أكبر، ثم ثني رجله وقعد، واعتدل حتى يرجع كل عظم في موضعه، ثم نهض، ثم صنع في الركعة الثانية مثل ذلك حتى إذا قام من السجدتين كبر، ورفع يديه حتى يحاذي بهما منكبيه كما صنع حين افتتح الصلاة، ثم صنع كذلك حتى كانت الركعة التي تنقضى فيها صلاته أخر رجله اليسرى وقعد على شقه متوركا، ثم سلم.
Reported by Abu Dawud (963), Tirmidhi (304), Nasai (1039), and Ibn Majah (862), all of them through routes going back to Abdul-Hameed bin Jafar, who said, Muhammad bin Amr bin Ata narrated to us, from Abu Humayd Saadi, and he mentioned the hadith. The wording given here is that of Tirmidhi, who said, hasan sahih. The wording of Nasai is abridged. The hadith was mentioned previously in the chapter on raising the hands in prayer, and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (1870).Hafiz said in Talkhis (1/223), "Tahawi found fault with it on the grounds that Muhammad bin Amr did not meet Abu Qatada. He said, this is further clarified by the fact that Ataf bin Khalid narrated it from Muhammad bin Amr and said, a man told me that he found ten of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sitting together. Then he transmitted the statement of Ibn Hibban and said, but the wording of the narration entirely rejects that. What I have verified is that the Muhammad bin Amr from whom Ataf bin Khalid narrated is Muhammad bin Amr bin Alqama bin Waqqas Laythi Madani, who never met Abu Qatada, nor came close to doing so. He only narrates from Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman and other senior Tabiin. As for the Muhammad bin Amr from whom Abdul-Hameed bin Jafar narrated, he is Muhammad bin Amr bin Ata, a senior Tabii whom Bukhari affirmed heard from Abu Humayd and others, and he transmitted the hadith through his route. The hadith has several routes going back to Abu Humayd, and in some of them, those named among the ten are Muhammad bin Salama, Abu Usayd, and Sahl bin Saad. This is the narration of Ibn Majah, from the hadith of Abbas bin Sahl bin Saad, from his father, and Ibn Khuzayma also narrated it through several routes."As for Abdul-Hameed, Ibn Hibban said in his Sahih (5/184), "He is one of the precise and reliable narrators. I have examined his reports and have not found him to be alone in transmitting any objectionable hadith without being corroborated. Fulayh bin Sulayman and Isa bin Abdullah bin Malik, narrating from Muhammad bin Amr bin Ata, from Abu Humayd, have concurred with Abdul-Hameed bin Jafar in this report."