Great Honour of Leading the Congregation including the Holy Prophet (sa) in Prayer
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf also had the honour of leading the prayer with the Holy Prophet (sa) in the congregation. Hazrat Mughirah (ra) relates, “I participated alongside the Holy Prophet (sa) in the Battle of Tabuk.” He says, “The Holy Prophet (sa) had gone to answer the call of nature prior to the Fajr prayer, so I carried the leather bag which contained water for him. When the Holy Prophet (sa) returned and came close to where I was standing (as he was standing at some distance), I began pouring the water onto his hands, so he washed both his hands three times and then washed his blessed face. Thereafter, he tried to take his arms out from his outer garment, but the sleeves were too tight, so he placed his hands inside the garment to uncover his arms and washed them up to his elbows. He then cleaned [his feet] by wiping over his leather socks. He then set forth, and I too walked with him until we found the people had ushered Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf forward and he was leading them in prayer. The Holy Prophet (sa) had reached during the second of the two rak‘aat [units of prayer], i.e. one rak‘at had already passed by that time and the second rak‘at of the Fajr prayer was being offered when he joined the lines of prayer in congregation. When Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf concluded the prayer with salam [salutation of peace], the Holy Prophet (sa) stood up to complete his prayer, which caused the Muslims to be anxious and they began increasing in performing the tasbih [glorification of God]. When the Holy Prophet (sa) had completed his prayer, he turned to the people and said, ‘What you did was right’, or ‘You did well.’”
In other words, the Holy Prophet (sa) expressed his delight over the fact that they began the prayer on time, by saying that they did well.
Hazrat Mughirah (ra) further relates, “When the Holy Prophet (sa) and I reached there, I desired to make Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf step back but the Holy Prophet (sa) instructed me not to and to therefore allow him to lead the prayer. After the prayer the Holy Prophet (sa) stated, ‘Indeed, every prophet in his lifetime has the opportunity to pray behind a pious person from among his followers.’”
(Sahih Muslim, Kitabus Salat, Bab Taqdeem al-Jama‘ah man Yusalli bihim idha Ta‘akhara al-Imam, Hadith 274) (al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 96, min Bani Zuhrah bin Kilab, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut)
This was another great honour he was given by the Holy Prophet (sa), that is to say that not only did the Holy Prophet (sa) commend him for leading the prayer, but he also said that the fact he prayed behind Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf was testimony that he was a pious man.