Hadith #76

Arabic Text

English Translation

'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, Ibn Jurayj informed us, he said: al-Harith ibn 'Abd al-Rahman informed me, from 'Iyad ibn 'Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (رضي الله عنه) that the Prophet ﷺ used to go out on the day of al-Fitr and al-Adha to the musalla (prayer ground), and the first thing he would begin with was the prayer. Then he would turn and stand facing the people while they were sitting in their rows, and he would admonish them, advise them, and command them. If he wished to dispatch an expedition, he would do so, or if he wished to command something, he would command it. He said: The people continued upon that until I went out with Marwan — who was the governor of Madinah — on the day of al-Adha or al-Fitr, and when we arrived at the musalla, there was a pulpit that Kathir ibn al-Salt had built. Marwan began to ascend it before the prayer. I pulled his garment, but he pulled it back, then he ascended and delivered the khutbah before the prayer. I said to him: 'By Allah, you have changed [the Sunnah]!' He said: 'O Abu Sa'id, what you knew has gone.' I said: 'What I know, by Allah, is better than what I do not know.' He said: 'The people would not sit for us after the prayer, so I placed it before the prayer.'