The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) were very keen to follow the teachings of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in all things, and to transmit them to those who came after them, especially the prayer, which is the foundation of faith. In this report, Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said to his companions among the Tabi‘in: I will do my best to lead you in prayer – meaning that I will not spare any effort to lead you in the prayer as I saw the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) pray; rather I shall do my best to lead you in prayer in the manner in which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to lead us in prayer. He only said that in order to encourage his audience to pay attention and memorize what he did, so that they could watch closely for the purpose of following the actions of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Thabit al-Bunani – who was one of the Tabi‘in and was the one who narrated this report from Anas – said: Anas used to do something that I have not seen you do. He would pause for a long time after standing up straight from bowing, to the extent that the one who saw him would think that he had forgotten and did not mean to stand for all this time, and he would do something similar between the two prostrations. This gives the impression that those to whom Thabit was speaking did not pause for a long time after rising from bowing or between the two prostrations, and this is why he specifically mentioned standing or sitting up straightand pausing after rising from bowing and prostration, to the exclusion of other essential parts of the prayer. Hence he said to them, Anas ibn Malik used to do something that I have not seen you do. This hadith confirms that one should pause and be at ease, and hold oneself upright after rising from bowing and between the two prostrations..