The Ruling on the Sitting for Rest

The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you, may Allah bless you.

The questioner:
Questions for the previous lesson have arrived in the book *Adab al-Mashy ila al-Salah* (The Etiquette of Walking to Prayer). One of the brothers asks, “Shaykh, what is the sitting of rest (*jalsat al-istirahah*) and what is its ruling?”

The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The sitting of rest: when one rises from prostration to the second rak'ah, he sits briefly before standing up. This is because it was reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he . The scholars differed on whether the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did this as a legislative act or did it out of need. This is because he did not do it except when he grew old and the prayer became heavy for him (peace and blessings be upon him). So some of them hold that he did it out of need, and whoever needs it does it. And some of them hold that it is a legislative act and that it is a sunnah (recommended practice). In any case, whoever does it has no blame on him and has a basis for it, and whoever does not do it has a basis for it. Yes.

The questioner:
If we were to ask, Shaykh Salih, is it prescribed absolutely?

The Shaykh:
There is the disagreement I mentioned. It was said that it is prescribed absolutely, and it was said that it is prescribed or permissible for whoever needs it. Yes.