658 — We were told by Muslim ibn Ibrahīm, we were told by al-Muthannā ibn Saʿīd, we were told by Qatādah, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik: that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to visit Umm Sulaym, and sometimes the prayer would overtake him while he was there, so he would pray on a carpet of ours, which was a mat that they sprinkled with water.

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It was also narrated with similar wording by Ibn Mājah (756) via ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAwn, from Anas ibn Sīrīn, from ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn al-Mundhir ibn al-Jārūd, from Anas. It is also in the *Musnad* of Aḥmad (12103) and (12303).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar said in *Fatḥ al-Bārī* 2/158 after mentioning this chain: This entails that there is a discontinuity in al-Bukhārī's narration, but this is rebutted by Anas ibn Sīrīn's explicit statement in his narration that he heard it from Anas. In that case, Ibn Mājah's narration is either an addition within a continuous chain, or it contains an error, because Ibn al-Jārūd was present with Anas when he narrated this ḥadīth and asked him about what he asked him concerning that — meaning concerning the Ḍuḥā prayer.

As for his statement concerning the Ḍuḥā prayer: "I did not see him pray it except on that day," Aḥmad (12353) and (12622) narrated via ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah, from Anas: that he did not see the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, pray the Ḍuḥā prayer except when he set out on a journey or returned from a journey. Its chain is good.

And see the ḥadīths of the chapter on the Ḍuḥā prayer that follow in the author's collection under numbers (1285–1294).

His statement: "And he was a heavy man," meaning corpulent. In this description there is an indication of the reason for his staying behind. Ibn Ḥibbān counted it among the excuses that permit one to stay behind from the congregational prayer, for he placed the ḥadīth under the heading: "Mention of the fourth excuse, which is extreme corpulence that prevents a man from attending the congregations."

(1) Its chain is sound.
It was also narrated by al-Bukhārī (6203), Muslim (659), and al-Tirmidhī (333) via two chains from Abū al-Tayyāḥ Yazīd ibn Ḥumayd, from Anas, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, was the best of people in character. Sometimes the prayer would come while he was in our house, and he would order the mat beneath him to be swept, then sprinkled, then the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, would lead the prayer and we would stand behind him, and he would pray with us. Their mat was made of palm fronds.
It is also in the *Musnad* of Aḥmad (12199) and *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān* (2506).

His statement: "Sometimes the prayer would overtake him" — Ibn Ḥibbān said in his *Ṣaḥīḥ*: He meant the time of the supererogatory prayer, for the Chosen One, peace and blessings be upon him, would not pray the obligatory prayer in congregation in the house of an Anṣārī rather than in the congregational mosque.