He said, "Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi related to me from Malik ibnAnas from Ibn Shihab that one day Umar ibn Abdal-Aziz delayed theprayer. Urwa ibn az-Zubayr came and told him that al-Mughira ibn Shubahad delayed the prayer one day while he was in Kufa and Abu Masud al-Ansari had come to him and said, 'What's this, Mughira? Don't you knowthat the angel Jibril came down and prayed and the Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed.' Then he prayedagain, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, prayed. Then he prayed again, and the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, prayed. Then he prayed again, andthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,prayed. Then he prayed again, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, prayed. Then Jibril said, 'This is whatyou have been ordered to do.' Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz said, 'Be sure ofwhat you relate, Urwa. Was it definitely Jibril who established thetime of the prayer for the Messenger of Allah?' " Urwa said, "That'show it was related to Bashir ibn Abi Masud al-Ansari by his father."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Amr ibn Yahya al-Mazini thathis father once asked Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Asim, who was thegrandfather of Amr ibn Yahya al-Mazini and one of the companions ofthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, if hecould show him how the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, did wudu. Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Asim agreed to do soand asked for water to do wudu. He poured some out on to his hand andwashed each hand twice and then rinsed his mouth and snuffed water uphis nose and blew it out three times.Then he washed hisface threetimes and both of his arms up to the elbows twice. He then wiped hishead with both hands, taking his hands from hisforehead to the nape ofhis neck and then bringing them back to where he had begun. Then hewashed his feet.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, hadwanted to take two pieces of wood to strike them together to gatherpeople for the prayer, and Abdullah ibn Zayd al-Ansari, then of thetribe of Harith ibn al-Khazraj, was shown two pieces of wood in hissleep. He said, 'These are close to what the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, wants.' Then it was said, 'Doyou not call to the prayer?', so when he woke up he went to theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, andmentioned the dream to him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, ordered the adhan."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Salamaibn Abdar-Rahman ibn Awf from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When you stand inprayer, Shaytan comes to you and confuses you until you do not knowhow much you have prayed. If you find that happening do two sajdasfrom the sitting position."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakribn Abd ar-Rahman, from Abu Salih as-Sammani from Abu Hurayra that theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Ifsomeone does ghusl for major ritual impurity on the day of jumua andthen goes in the first part of the time, it is as if he had offered upa camel. If he goes in the second part of the time, it is as if he hadoffered up a cow. If he goes in the third part of the time, it is asif he had offered up a horned ram. If he goes in the fourth part ofthe time, it is as if he had offered up a hen. If he goes in the fifthpart of the time, it is as if he had offered up an egg. And when theimam comes out, the angels settle down listening to the dhikr(remembrance of Allah)."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, prayed in the mosque one night and people prayedbehind him. Then he prayed the next night and there were more people.Then they gathered on the third or fourth night and the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not come out tothem. In the morning, he said, "I saw what you were doing and the onlything that prevented me from coming out to you was that I feared thatit would become obligatory (fard) for you." This happened in Ramadan.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir fromSaid ibn al-Jubayr that a man who has approval (as a relater ofhadith), told him that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, said, "If a man prays in the night andsleep overcomes him during it, Allah writes for him the reward of hisprayer, and his sleep is sadaqa for him."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umarthat the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said, "Prayer in congregation is better than the prayer of a man byhimself by twenty-seven degrees."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Da'ud ibn al-Husayn from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, joined dhuhr and asr on his journey to Tabuk.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard more than one oftheir men of knowledge say, "There has been no call to prayer or iqamafor the id al-Fitr or the id al-Adha since the time of the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."Maliksaid, "That is the sunna about which there is no disagreement amongus."