The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to start the prayer with Takbīr and then recite: {All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds}

The Mother of the Believers ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) mentioned the prayer of the Prophet (ﷺ) that he would begin his prayer with the opening Takbīr, saying: "Allāhu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)," and he would begin the recitation with Surat al-Fātihah: {All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds...}. And when he bowed after standing, he would neither raise nor lower his head while bowing, but kept it level and straight.

When he raised his head from bowing, he would stand upright before going into prostration. And when he raised his head from the first prostration, he would not go into the second until he was completely settled in the sitting position. He would sit after every two Rak‘ahs for the Tashahhud (sitting of testimony) and say: "At-Tahiyyātu lillāhi was-salawātu wat-tayyibāt..." (Greetings, prayers, and good things are due to Allah...).

When sitting between the two prostrations or for the Tashahhud, he would spread his left foot and sit upon it, and erect his right foot. He forbade a person praying from sitting in prayer like the sitting of the devil—that is, by spreading his feet flat on the ground and sitting on his heels, or by placing his buttocks on the ground while erecting his legs and resting his hands on the ground like a dog does.

He also forbade spreading one's forearms flat on the ground during prostration, as wild beasts do. He would conclude his prayer with Taslīm: "As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh (Peace and mercy of Allah be upon you)," once to the right and once to the left.