QUOTE from extragame2: "I guess it would be the way Arabs in Saudi Arabia pray. That's the way".
Well, the question then is ... where do u think all the imaams (not limited to the 4) and their student studied? And how about the teachers of the 4 imaams? They were technically arabs ... even though some were born far away. They still made hijra to study .. some in makkah some in madeena some in koofah etc.. or even to all of them!!
Also, the religion is clear and the "confusion" that is being talked about is unnecessary. I do not follow a particlar madhab and i'm not confused alhamdulillah. All its needs is to invest time ... learn from the shaafei, the hanbali and maaliki and hanafi ... simply because this is what the early scholars did!! They learnt from each other ... just like the sahabas did !! I can go into details, but i hope u get the idea ... pray as u know, then build up your knowledge as u go on, as u collect more evidences that are authentic. So if a madhab A says to do x based on ijtihaad and u find madhab B says to do y based on direct hadeeth, then of course you choose y. Now, if u find from a differnt madhab C saying to do z based on mutawatir hadeeth (comfirmed by many independent narrators) .. of course we go with the stroonger evidence!! its very clear.
Take one example from the imaams: would u place your hand below the navel or above? well, there is a hadeeth that says to place the hands below the navel. But a number of imaams said it is weak. Imaam Ahmad gathered stronger evidence that shows above the navel. Imaam AnNawawi said that the imaams of jarh wa ta'deel agree it is a weak hadeeth, similarly ibn Hajr in Fath al baari said its a weak hadeeth. But of course, those who relied on that specific hadeeth without knowing its weakness are not at fault... but we cannot follow thier mistake. The saheeh narration was collected way later, around the time of imaam ahmad, when imaam Al Bukhaari collected his saheeh and also from Abudawood that mention the prophet pbuh put his hands on his chest!
Finally, I too recommend the book " The prophets prayer Described" as mentioned by sister samiha