His Guidance in the Fear Prayer (Salah Al-Khawf)

Allah permitted the Prophet  (Peace be upon him) to shorten  pillars  of the prayer  and likewise their number, if it was necessary  due to a combination  of fear and travel and to reduce the number  only, when on a journey which is not accompanied  by fear and to reduce the pillars only, if there is fear but   no  travel.  From this the wisdom of limiting the shortening mentioned in the Qur'anic Verse[1] to traveling on the earth and fear may be seen.

If the enemy  stood between  him and  the Qiblah,  it was a part  of his guidance  during  the fear prayer to arrange  the Muslims in two rows behind  him,  then  he would  make  Takbeer and  they would  all make Takbeer, then they would all bow and straighten  up, then  the first row behind him would prostrate  alone, and the last row would stand up to face the  enemy,  then  when  the  first row straighten   up,  the  second row would prostrate  twice, then  they would stand  up and advance to the place of the first row and the first row would  retreat  to take their place, so that  both  groups might  attain  the blessing  of the  first row and  so that  the  second row might  catch  the  two prostrations with him in the  second  Rak’ah  and  this  is the  ultimate  in fairness. Then when  he bowed  (for a second time)  the  two parties  would  do what they did in the first Rak'ah,  Then when  he sat for the Tashahhud, the  second  row would  perform  its two prostrations   and  then  they would join him in the Tashahhud and he would pronounce the Tasleem with  them  all together.[2]

If the enemy  was  not in the  direction  of the  Qiblah, sometimes,  he would split them into two groups: One facing the enemy and another praying  with  him;  and  one of the  two groups would  offer a Rak'ah with him, then  they would go and complete their prayer in the place of the  second  group,  and  the  latter  would  offer the  second  Rak'ah with  him, then  he would  make  Tasleem and  each of the  two groups would make up what  they had missed  after the Imam had  made  the Tasleem.[3] And sometimes, he would perform a single Rak'an with one of the two groups, then he would  stand  up and offer the second Rak'ah, while  they would  make  up the  second Rak'ah while  he was standing  and they would make the Tasleem before his Ruku'; then  the second group would come and offer the second Rak'ah  with him and when  he sat in the Tashahhud, they would  stand  up and make up the Rak'ah they had missed, while waited for them in the Tashahhud, then when  they had made  the Tashahhud, he would make the Tasleem with them[4]

And  sometimes,  he  would  offer  two  Rak'ahs with  one  of the  two groups  and  make  the  Tasleem with  them,   then   the  second  group would come and he would offer two Rak'ahs  with  them and make the Tasleem with  them.[5] At other  times, he would offer one Rak'ah  with one of the two groups, then they would go and they would  not make up anything  and the second group would come and he would offer a Rak'ah with  them  and  they  would  not  make  up  anything. So he would  have  offered  two Rak'ahs and  they  would  have  offered  one Rak'ab each.[6] It is permissible to offer the prayer in all of these ways.

Ahmad said: "Six or seven ways have been narrated regarding it (i.e. the fear prayer) and all of them are permissible."  And it is apparent from this that he   permitted  each group to pray One Rak'ah and not to  make  up  anything   and  this  was  the  way  of Jabir,  Ibn  'Abbas, Tawus, Mujahid,  Al-Hasan,  Qatadah,  Al-Hakim and  Ishaq.

Other descriptions   have been narrated,   but all of them return   to these.  Some  of them  have  mentioned   that  there  are  ten  and  Ibn Hazm mentioned  fifteen descriptions,  but the correct forms are those, which  we  have  mentioned    and  whenever those people noted a difference among the narrators  in a narrative,  they would declare it to be a form practised  by the Prophet  (Peace be upon him).