What is the recommended practice regarding the placement of the hands during prostration?
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The questioner : What is the recommended practice regarding the placement of the hands in prostration? Are they placed level with the shoulders or level with the ears, with evidence?
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The recommended practice (sunnah) for placing the hands during prostration is for a person to place them on the ground, facing the qiblah with the tips of his fingers, keeping his upper arms away from his sides. The Sunnah has come down stating that a person prostrates between them, meaning the forehead is between the two hands. The scholars have mentioned that he should also place them level with his shoulders. Both of these are permissible, because the principle is that when a form of worship comes in various forms, all of these forms are permissible. In fact, it is better to do this one way at times and that one way at other times, so that he performs the Sunnah in all its transmitted forms. This type of thing has examples, including this one, and including the tashahhud, which has come in various wordings, and including the opening supplication, which has come in various wordings.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The recommended practice (sunnah) for placing the hands during prostration is for a person to place them on the ground, facing the qiblah with the tips of his fingers, keeping his upper arms away from his sides. The Sunnah has come down stating that a person prostrates between them, meaning the forehead is between the two hands. The scholars have mentioned that he should also place them level with his shoulders. Both of these are permissible, because the principle is that when a form of worship comes in various forms, all of these forms are permissible. In fact, it is better to do this one way at times and that one way at other times, so that he performs the Sunnah in all its transmitted forms. This type of thing has examples, including this one, and including the tashahhud, which has come in various wordings, and including the opening supplication, which has come in various wordings.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.