Some men came to Sahl bin Saad as-Saidi having disputed about the pulpit and what wood it was made from, so they asked him about it.He said, "By Allah, I know exactly what it is made from. I saw it on the very first day it was placed, and on the very first day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat upon it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent word to so-and-so," a woman whom Sahl named, "saying, 'Tell your carpenter slave to make me a wooden seat that I may sit upon when I address the people.' So she ordered him, and he made it from the tamarisk wood of the forest, then brought it to her. She sent it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he approved of it, so it was placed here.Then I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pray upon it. He said the takbir while standing on it, then bowed while on it, then stepped backward and prostrated at the base of the pulpit, then returned to it. When he finished, he turned to the people and said, 'People, I have only done this so that you may follow my example and learn my prayer.'"
أن رجالا أتوا سهل بن سعد الساعدي وقد امتروا في المنبر مم عوده؟ فسألوه عن ذلك؟ فقال: والله إني لأعرف مما هو، ولقد رأيته أول يوم وضع، وأول يوم جلس عليه رسول الله ﷺ أرسل رسول الله ﷺ إلى فلانة- امرأة قد سماها سهل-: مري غلامك النجار أن يعمل لي أعوادا أجلس عليهن إذا كلمت الناس. فأمرته فعملها من طرفاء الغابة، ثم جاء بها، فأرسلت إلى… رسول الله ﷺ فأقر بها، فوضعت ها هنا، ثم رأيت رسول الله ﷺ صلى عليها، وكبر وهو عليها، ثم ركع وهو عليها، ثم نزل القهقرى فسجد في أصل المنبر، ثم عاد. فلما فرغ أقبل على الناس فقال: أيها الناس! إنما صنعت هذا لتأتموا ولتعلموا صلاتي.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Friday Prayer (917), and Muslim in the Book of Mosques (544), both from Qutayba bin Saeed, who said, "Yaqub bin Abdul-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abdul-Qari Qurashi Iskandarani related to us, who said, 'Abu Hazim bin Dinar related to us,'" and he mentioned a similar account. The wording given here is Bukhari's. In one version it reads, "So he made these three steps." The word "amtaru" comes from "mumaraah," which means arguing, and this is supported by what appears in Muslim's version, "an tamaru," meaning "that they argued." As for "tarfa of the Ghabah," tarfa is a type of tree of which there are four kinds, one of which is the athl, and its singular form is "tarfaah." The Ghabah is a thicket with dense trees located toward Syria from Madinah.This hadith shows that it is permissible for the imam to stand in an elevated place, if his purpose is to teach the people. Otherwise, it is disliked.