Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The congregational prayer of anyone amongst you is more than twenty (five or
twenty seven) times in reward than his prayer in the market or in his house, for if he performs ablution
completely and then goes to the mosque with the sole intention of performing the prayer, and nothing
urges him to proceed to the mosque except the prayer, then, on every step which he takes towards the
mosque, he will be raised one degree or one of his sins will be forgiven. The angels will keep on
asking Allah's forgiveness and blessings for everyone of you so long as he keeps sitting at his praying
place. The angels will say, 'O Allah, bless him! O Allah, be merciful to him!' as long as he does not do
Hadath or a thing which gives trouble to the other." The Prophet (ﷺ) further said, "One is regarded in
prayer so long as one is waiting for the prayer."
Sahih al-Bukhari Book 34, Hadith 72
Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas and 'Abu bin Zam`a had a dispute over a boy. Sa`d said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!
This (boy) is the son of my brother, `Utba bin Abi Waqqas who told me to be his custodian as he was
his son. Please notice to whom he bears affinity." And 'Abu bin Zam`a said, "This is my brother, O
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! He was born on my father's bed by his slave girl." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) looked at the boy
and noticed evident resemblance between him and `Utba, so he said, "He (the toy) is for you, O 'Abu
bin Zam`a, for the boy is for the owner of the bed, and the stone is for the adulterer. Screen yourself
before the boy, O Sauda bint Zam`a." `Aisha added: Since then he had never seen Sauda.
Sahih al-Bukhari Book 85, Hadith 42
"We were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when a man entered the Masjid and prayed. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) watched him without him realizing, then he finished, came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and greeted him with salam. He returned the salam and said: "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.'" He (the narrator) said: "I do not know if it was the second or third time,- "(the man) said: 'By the One Who revealed the Book to you, I have tried my best. Teach me and show me.' He said: 'When you want to pray, perform wudu' and do it well, then stand up and face the qiblah. Then say the takbir, then recite, then bow until you are at ease in bowing. Then stand up until you are standing up straight. Then prostrate until you are at ease in prostration, then raise your head until you are at ease in sitting, then prostrate until you are at ease in prostration. If you do that then you will have done your prayer properly, and whatever you failed to do properly is going to detract from your prayer."
Sunan an-Nasa'i Book 12, Hadith 25
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Fasting is a shield (or a screen or a shelter). So, the person observing fasting
should avoid sexual relation with his wife and should not behave foolishly and impudently, and if
somebody fights with him or abuses him, he should tell him twice, 'I am fasting." The Prophet (ﷺ) added,
"By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is
better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person), 'He has left
his food, drink and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me. So I will reward (the fasting person) for it
and the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times."
Sahih al-Bukhari Book 30, Hadith 4
Hamnah said my menstruation was great in quantity and severe. So I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for a decision and told him. I found him in the house of my sister, Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh.
I said: Messenger of Allah, I am a woman who menstruates in great quantity and it is severe, so what do you think about it? It has prevented me from praying and fasting.
He said: I suggest that you should use cotton, for it absorbs the blood. She replied: It is too copious for that. He said: Then take a cloth. She replied: It is too copious for that, for my blood keeps flowing. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I shall give you two commands; whichever of them you follow, that will be sufficient for you without the other, but you know best whether you are strong enough to follow both of them.
He added: This is a stroke of the Devil, so observe your menses for six or seven days, Allah alone knows which it should be; then wash. And when you see that you are purified and quite clean, pray during twenty-three or twenty-four days and nights and fast, for that will be enough for you, and do so every month, just as women menstruate and are purified at the time of their menstruation and their purification.
But if you are strong enough to delay the noon (Zuhr) prayer and advance the afternoon ('Asr) prayer, to wash, and then combine the noon and the afternoon prayer; to delay the sunset prayer and advance the night prayer, to wash, and then combine the two prayers, do so: and to wash at dawn, do so: and fast if you are able to do so if possible.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Of the two commands this is more to my liking.1
Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit narrated from Ibn 'Aqil: Hamnah said: Of the two commands this is the one which is more to my liking.2 In this version these words were not quoted as the statement of the Prophet (ﷺ); it gives it as a statement of Hamnah.
Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit was a Rafidi. This has been said by Yahya b. Ma'in.
Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) say: I am doubtful about the tradition transmitted by Ibn 'Aqil.
Sunan Abi Dawud Book 1, Hadith 287