Al Minah Al `Aliyyah (16)

Prostration has many Sunnan :

It is Sunnah for the worshipper to keep a distance between his/her arms and side and between his/her thighs and belly (when prostrating). ‘Abdullah Ibn Bahina t narrated, “When the Prophet r prostrated, he used to keep his arms so wide apart that we used to see his armpits.”^[1] Besides, Maimoonah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated, “When the Prophet r prostrated he would make a space between his arms and sides to such an extent that it would allow a sheep to go through.”^[2] Of course this is just an exaggeration, but it indicates that it is Sunnah to keep the arms away from each other. However, this should not cause any harm to those praying next to one another. It is also Sunnah to keep the thighs away from one another when prostrating. Abu Humaid as-Sa’id  narrated, “I am the one who is more knowledgeable of the Prophet’s r prayer than any one of you. After finishing his recital, he raised his hands until they were level with his ears, said the takbir and from there, performed the ruku.’ He placed his palms on his knees and posed his back straight, neither raising his head nor lowering it.”^[3] Ash-Shawkani (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “The hadith indicates that it is permissible to make a space between the thighs during prostration and keep them a distance away from the belly, and scholars have agreed on that point. ”^[4]

It is Sunnah for the one who prostates to ensure his toes face towards the Qiblah: Abu Humaid  reported, “I am the one who is most knowledgeable of the Prophet’s r prayer. When he wanted to prostrate, he would place his hands on the ground neither stretching them nor grasping them and he would make his toes face towards the Qiblah.”^[5]As for the fingers, it is Sunnah to keep them tightened during prostration and the hands should face towards the Qiblah as well. Ibn abi Shaybah in his Musannaf through Hafs Ibn ‘Asim reported through ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) that he said, “It is Sunnah to close the fingers and place the hands on the ground and make them face towards the Qiblah.” ^[6]

It is Sunnah to say the adhkar that should be uttered in prostration: Hence, beside saying, “Glory to my Lord the greatest,” he can say the following:

           سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا وَبِحَمْدِكَ، اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي

“Glory and praise be to You, O Allah! Forgive me, ”^[7] which is taken from the hadith of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her).

             سُبُّوحٌ قُدُّوسٌ رَبُّ الْمَلاَئِكَةِ وَالرُّوحِ

“Glory to the Living who does not die, All-Perfect, All-Pure, the Lord of the angels and the Spirit”^[8] which is taken from the hadith of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her).

 اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ سَجَدْتُ ، وَبِكَ آمَنْتُ ، وَلَكَ أَسْلَمْتُ ، سَجَدَ وَجْهِي لِلَّذِي خَلَقَهُ وَصَوَّرَهُ، وَشَقَّ سَمْعَهُ وَبَصَرَهُ، تَبَارَكَ الله أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ

 “O Allah! To You I prostrated, in You I believe, and to You I submit. I prostrate my face to the One Who created it, and gave it hearing and sight by His Might and His Power. Glory is to Allah, the Best of creators,”^[9] which is taken from the hadith of ‘Ali t .

      اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي ذَنْبِي كُلَّهُ دِقَّهُ وَجِلَّهُ ، وَأَوَّلَهُ وَآخِرَهُ، وَعَلاَنِيَتَهُ وَسِرَّهُ

“O Allah! Forgive me for all that I’ve done, forgive my sins -the big and small, the ones done in public, and secret, please forgive them all,”^[10] which is taken from the hadith of Abu Hurairah t.

 اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِرِضَاكَ مِنْ سَخَطِكَ ، وَبِمُعَافَاتِكَ مِنْ عُقُوبَتِكَ ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْكَ ، لاَ أُحْصِي ثَنَاءً عَلَيْكَ ، أَنْتَ كَمَا أَثْنَيْتَ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ

 “O Allah! I seek Your pleasure to guard us against Your anger, and Your mercy to guard us against Your punishment. However much we try to praise You, we cannot praise You as much as You have praised Yourself,”^[11] which is reported through the hadith of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), hence it is recommended to use each of these formulae occasionally. It is known that the obligatory formula in the position of bowing down is, “Glory be to my Lord, the Great.” To say it only once is obligatory. Additional utterances are Sunnah and the same should be said for the phrase “Glory be to my Lord, the Highest,” when we make prostration.

It is Sunnah to increase in supplications while making prostrations as in the hadith reported by Muslim and narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both ), the Prophet r said,

“Increase your du’as when you prostrate as this is when it is more likely to be answered.”^[12]

It is also an act of Sunnah to sit

      between the two prostrations :  

It is Sunnah to position the left leg to sit on it and erect the right one.  This is supported by a sahih (trusted) hadith of Abu Humaid as-Sa’idi  which states, “When he (the Prophet r) sits between the two prostrations, he sits on his left leg and erects the right one. ”^[13]

Prolonging this pillar because of the hadith of Thabib al-Banani  that we have already mentioned.

It is Sunnah for the worshipper to sit for a while before he rises up for the second, third or fourth rak’ah: Which is called the rest between sittings and it has no specific dhikr. The legality of this has been proven in three different ahadith. One of them is that which was narrated by Malik Ibn al-Huwairith t where he said,

“I saw the Prophet r praying and in the odd rak’ah, he used to sit for a moment before getting up. ”^[14]

He is the same narrator who reported to us the Prophet’s saying, “Pray as you have seen me praying.”^[15] Scholars differed whether this short resting is Sunnah or not. Yet, the correct view is that it is Sunnah due to the hadith of Malik t. Among the scholars who said that it is Sunnah are: An-Nawawi, ash-Shawkani, Ibn Baaz and Al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on them all). In addition, the permanent committee for Iftaa (may Allah prolong their lives) said that it is Sunnah. An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “This is the right opinion as it has been proved by an authentic hadith. ”^[16]