The Hands or Knees First In Going
Down into Sujūd?
Regarding sujud in solah, I have read two different versions. One says that it is
better that your knees touch the floor before your hands. In the Al-Albani’s Sifah Solah-al-Nabee,
it says one should place one's hands on the ground before the knees - and
quotes hadith supporting these claiming knees before hand is as the camel and
not advisable. What is there a correct way?
In
the name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful;
All
the praise and Thanks is due to Allāh, the Lord of al-`ālameen. I testify that
there is none worthy of worship except Allāh, and that Muhammad, Sallallāhu
`alayhi wasallam is His Messenger.
The
Sunnah of the Solāh is categorised into two, one is “Sunnah Ab`adh” and “Sunnah
Hai`ah”. According to the Shafi`ie School of Jurisprudence Sunnah Ab`adh is an
Essential Sunnah, an equivalent to wajib (obligatory) parts of Solāh of The
Hanbali School. If one forgets it, one has to perform the Sujūd Al-Sahwi (Prostration
of Forgetfulness). While Sunnah Hai`ah
is Mustahabbah (Encouraged) Sunnah.
The
placing the hands on the ground before his knees or the knees before hands
falls under the “Postures which are Sunnah of the Solāh” It is a “Sunnah
Hai`ah” which is Mustahabbah (Encouraged) Sunnah in order to beautify the
Solah.
The
scholars have differed as to how one should go down into sujūd, whether one
should go hands first or knees first.
First: The view of the
majority that one should go down into Sujud on his knees first, then on his
hands.
According to the Hanafis, Shāfi’ies and one
opinion narrated from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahimahullah), the person who is
praying should go down on his knees first, then on his hands.
Imam
Al-Tirmidzi (rahimahullah) held that this was the opinion of the majority of
scholars, and said in his Sunan (2/57): “This is how it is done according to the majority of
scholars: they think that a man should go down on his knees before he puts his
hands down, and when he gets up he should raise his hands before his knees. Those who
express this opinion take as evidence the hadeeth of Wā`il ibn Hujr, who said:
“I saw the Messenger of Allāh (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam), when he did sujūd,
putting his knees down before his hands, and when he got up he raised his hands
before his knees.” (This hadith was recorded by Abu Dawūd,
Al-Tirmidzi, Al-Nasā’ie, Ibn Mājah and Al-Dāraqutni (1/345). Imam Al-Tirmidzi
(rahimahullah) classified the Hadith as Hasan
Gharib and said: we do not know of anyone who narrated like this except
from Sharyk from `Asim ibn Kulaib from
Wa`il; Al-Bayhaqi (rahimahumullah) said in his Al-Sunan (2/101): its isnād is
da’ief (weak) as Sharyk is not qawiy (strong). Al-Albāni (rahimahullah)
classified it as da’ief in Al-Mishkāt (898) and Al-Irwa’ (2/75). Other scholars
classified it as sahīh, such as Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahumullah) in Zaad
al-Ma’ād).
Among
those who thought that one should go down into sujūd knees first were Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim(rahimahumullah);
contemporary scholars who favour this view include Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn
Bāz and Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sālih al-‘Uthaymeen(rahimahumullah).
In
fact Sayyid Sabiq (rahimahullah) said in Fiqh-us-Sunnah (vol. 1, pg. 151): "Most scholars prefer that one place his knees on
the floor before his hands. Ibn al-Mundhir (rahimahullah) related this from
`Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, (radiyallahu’anhu), An-Nakhaie, Muslim Ibn Yasar, Sufyan
Al-Thawri, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, (rahimahumullah) according to one of two
views reported from him), Ishaq ibn Rahwaih, and other jurists including Ibn
Al-Mundhir (rahimahumullah) himself and Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Al-Tahawi. Abu
at-Tayyeb (rahimahullah) said that most jurists agree with this. Ibn Al Qayyim
Al-Jawziyyah, the disciple of Ibn Taymiyyah, (rahimahumullah) said: 'When the
Prophet, (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam), prayed, he would place his knees (on
the floor) before his hands, then his hands, his forehead and nose. This is
what is authentic and has been related by Sharyk from Asim ibn Kulaib on the
authority of his father from Wa'il ibn Hujr who said: I saw the Messenger of Allah, (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam), while
prostrating, place his knees (on the floor) before his hands. Upon getting up,
he would raise his hands before his knees. I never saw him do otherwise.'"
(See Abu Dawūd, 1/837-838, pg. 215).
Sayyid
Sabiq (rahimahullah) then gave the opinion of Imam Malik, Al-Awzaie, Ibn Hazm
and Imam Ahmad (according to his other opinion) whose opinions coincide with
Al-Albani's.
The
Hadith from Wa'il ibn Hajr and Abu Hurayrah (radiyallahu’anhum) can also be
found in the English translation of Mishkat- ul-Masabih of Waliuddin Abu
Abdullah Mahmud Tabrizi (rahimahullah)
(see vol. 2, no's 898-899, pg. 172) where it says: " Abu
Sulayman Al-Khattabi (rahimahullah) in his Sharh on Sunan Abu Dawud,
known as Ma`alim al-Sunan (d. 388AH/998;
rahimahullah) said that the tradition of Wa'il ibn Hujr (radiyallahu’anhu) is
more sound than this (i.e the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah) and it is also said that
it is an abrogated one (mansukh) (i.e the
Hadith of Abu Hurayrah). Also Imam Sharaf Al-Haqq Al-Azīm Abādi (rahimahullah),
the author of “Awn Al-Ma’bood Fe Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud” (vol 1, 311-312), Shams Al-Haqq Azimabadi
said in his commentary to Abu Dawūd; after quoting the opinions held by some scholars
that the hands should be placed before the knees: "
Al-Khattabi
(rahimahullah) is of the opinion that the tradition of Wa'il ibn Hujr
(radiyallahu’anhu) is better established because it is supported by several
other sound traditions (which have not been quoted by al-Albani).
Ibn
Khuzaimah (a Shafi'ie scholar of Hadith, d. 311/924; rahimahullah) observes
that the tradition of Abu Hurayrah (radiyallahu’anhu) has been abrogated
(mansukh). Ibn Khuzaimah (rahimahullah) reports a tradition on the
authority of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas (radiyallahu’anhu): “We
used to place our hands (on the ground) before our knees, but later on we were
commanded to place our knees before our hands!" [Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah]
Imam
Sharaf Al-Haqq Al-Azīm Abādi (rahimahullah), the author of “Awn Al-Ma’bood Fe
Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud” also said: "Imam Abu Hanifah,
Imam al-Shafi'ie and Imam Ahmad (according to his second
view) maintain that one should place his knees before his hands. And this seems
to more convenient (see: Sunan of Abu Dawūd, vol. 2, fn. 383-384, pg.
215 English ed'n)."
Second: should go into
sujūd hands first
Imam
Mālik, Al-Awzā’ie (rahimahumullah) and the scholars of hadeeth (rahimahumullah)
thought that one should go into sujūd hands first, based on the hadeeth of Abu
Hurayrah (radiyallahu’anhu), who said: “The Messenger of Allāh (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam)
said, ‘When any one of you prostrates, let him not go down as the camel does;
let him put his hands down before his knees.’” (Reported by Ahmad
(2/381), Abu Dawūd, Al-Tirmidzi, And Al-Nisā’ie. Al-Nawawi said in Al-Majmoo’
(3/421): it was reported by Abu Dawūd and Al-Nasā’ie with a jayyid (strong) isnād.
It was classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albāni in al-Irwa’ (2/78), who said: This
is a sahīh isnād, all of whose men are thiqāt (trustworthy), the men of Muslim,
apart from Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd-Allāh Ibn Al-Hasan, also known as Al-Nafs
Al-Zakiyyah Al-‘Alawi, who is thiqah
(trustworthy))
Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu`alayhi wasallam)
used to instruct likewise, saying, “When one of you performs sajdah, he should
not kneel like a camel, but should place his hands before his knees.” [Abu
Dawud, Tammam in al-Fawā`id, and Nasā`ie in Sunan As-Sughrā and Sunan al-Kubrā
(47/1) with a sahih isnād. `Abdul Haqq declared it sahih in Al-Ahkam (54/1),
and went on to say in Kitab al-Tahajjud (56/1), “it has a sounder isnad than the previous
one”, i.e. the hadith of Wa’il Ibn Hujr which is the other way
round (the knees before hands). In fact, the
latter hadith, as well as being contradictory to
this sahih hadith and the preceding one, is neither
authentic in isnad nor in meaning, as I have explained in Silsilah
Al-Ahadith Ad-Dha’iefah (no. 929) and Al-Irwa' (357). It should be known that
the way to differ from the camel is to place the hands before the knees,
because the camel places its knees first; a camel's “knees” are in its forelegs, as
defined in Lisān Al-‘Arab and other books of the ‘Arabic language, and as
mentioned by Tahawi in Mushkil Al-Āthar and Sharh Ma’ani Al-Āthar. Also, Imām
Qasim Al-Saraqusti (rahimahullāh) narrated in Gharib Al-Hadith (2/70/1-2), with
a sahih isnad, Abu Hurayrah’s statement, “No one should kneel the way a runaway camel does”, and
then added, “This is in sajdah. He is saying that one should not throw oneself
down, as a runaway (or untamed) camel does, hurriedly and without calmness, but
he should go down calmly, placing his hands first, followed by his knees, and
an explanatory marfu’ hādith has been narrated in this regard.” He
then mentioned the hadith above. As for Ibn al-Qayyim's extremely strange
statement, “These words are incomprehensible, and not understood by the experts
of the language”, it is answered by the sources which we have mentioned, and
also many others which can be consulted. I have also expanded on this in the
refutation against Shaikh Tuwaijri, which may be published.]
[See: Al-Albani’s Sifah
Solah-al-Nabee]
4. Al-Albani has
quite categorically claimed that the Ahadith which prove that one should place
one's knees down before one's hands are
all 'inauthentic' according to his 'classification' standards. But as usual when
there seems to be 'contradictory' Ahadith, Al-Albani fail short to tell his
readers that many other scholars of Hadith and even the Mujtahid Imams like Abu Hanifah, Al-Shafi’ie
(rahimahumullah) and according one opinion
narrated
from Ahmad
(rahimahumullah) are indifference to his view of placing the hands on the
ground before the knees! They held the view who is praying should go down on his knees first, then
on his hands.
Third: to choose one of
the ways as both ways are permissible.
Ibnu
Hajar Al-`Asqalani (rahimahullah) said: Both Imam
Malik and Imam Ahmad (rahimahumullah) held
that it is permissible to choose one of the ways as both ways are permissible.
[See: Fathul Bāri]
Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (rahimahullah) made a comment on this matter in al-Fatāwa
(22/449): “Praying in both ways is permissible,
according to the consensus of the scholars. If a person wants to go down knees
first or hands first, his prayer is valid in either case, according to the
consensus of the scholars, but they disputed as to which is preferable.”
This
is one of the issues of the differences of opinion, and the correct approach is
one should act upon whichever opinion he believes is more likely to be correct,
and the ordinary Muslim should follow the opinion of his school of
Jurisprudence.
And
Allāh Almighty Knows best.
[Excerpted
with modification from “Islam Q&A (Fatwa No: 2108 By Sheikh Muhammed Salih
Al-Munajjid)” and “Al-Albani Unveiled: 3. Important Issues of Fiqh
(Jurisprudence) in Solah 3.1 - Going into Sajud: Hands or Knees First? A compilation
by Shafuddin Ahmed Ibn Muhammad”]
