The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent word to a woman of the Ansar, saying, "Tell your carpenter slave to make me some wooden steps so I can address the people from them." So he made these three steps, and then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered that they be placed in this spot.I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stand upon it and say the takbir, and the people behind him said the takbir while he was on the pulpit. Then he raised himself, stepped backward until he prostrated at the base of the pulpit, then returned and continued until he completed his prayer. Afterward he turned to the people and said, "People, I did this only so that you would follow me and learn how I pray."In another narration, he faced the qiblah and said the takbir, and the people stood behind him. He recited and bowed, and the people bowed behind him. Then he raised his head and stepped backward until he prostrated on the ground. Then he returned to the pulpit, bowed again, raised his head, and stepped backward once more until he prostrated on the ground. This was his manner.
أرسل رسول الله ﷺ إلى امرأة من الأنصار أن مري علامك النجار يعمل لي أعوادا أكلم الناس عليها. فعمل هذه الثلاث درجات، ثم أمر بها رسول الله ﷺ فوضعت هذا الموضع. ولقد رأيت رسول الله ﷺ قام عليه، فكبر وكبر الناس وراءه وهو على المنبر. ثم رفع فنزل القهقرى حتى سجد في أصل المنبر. ثم عاد حتى فرغ من صلاته، ثم أقبل على الناس فقال: يا أيها الناس إنما فعلت هذا لتأتموا بي، ولتعلموا صلاتي وفي رواية: فاستقبل القبلة، وكبر وقام الناس خلفه. فقرأ وركع، وركع الناس خلفه، ثم رفع رأسه حتى رجع القهقرى فسجد على الأرض، ثم عاد إلى المنبر ثم ركع، ثم رفع رأسه، ثم رجع القهقرى حتى سجد بالأرض فهذا شأنه.
Bukhari related it in the Book of Friday (917), and Muslim in the Book of Mosques (45/544), both from Qutayba bin Saeed, who said, Yaqub bin Abdul-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abdul-Qari Qurashi Iskandarani told us, he said, Abu Hazim bin Dinar told us that some men came to Sahl bin Saad Saadi after they had disputed about what wood the pulpit was made of, and they asked him about that. He said, "By Allah, I know very well what it is made of. I saw it on the very first day it was set up, and the first day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat on it," and he mentioned the rest in the same way.The second version was related by Bukhari (377) from Ali bin Abdullah, who said, Sufyan told us, Abu Hazim told us, he said, They asked Sahl bin Saad, "What is the pulpit made of?" He said, "No one among the people knows better than I do. It is made from the tamarisk wood of the thicket," and he mentioned the rest in the same way.As for his saying "imtaraw," in Muslim's version it is "tamaraw," meaning they differed and disputed with one another. As for his saying "athl," with a short vowel on the hamza and a silent tha, it refers to a well known type of tree.