Discussion of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's research on the issue of lowering oneself to prostration

The questioner : We ask that you clarify your opinion regarding the research ofThe Shaykh : Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah on the issue of lowering oneself to prostration; where he stated in "Zad al-Ma'ad" that the correct view is placing the knees on the ground before the hands. I ask for a discussion of... and peace be upon you?

The Shaykh : If not for the fact that this question has actually been repeated dozens of times, and if not for the abundance of trials with contradicting the correct Sunnah, we would not have devoted ourselves to answering the requestThe questioner : which is to discuss the evidence of Ibn al-Qayyim.
Ibn al-Qayyim wrote about four pages on this issue, and he elaborated greatly in it, as is his habit in many issues, but unfortunately, in this issue, he was far from the truth. I found an excuse for him in that; where he mentioned in the introduction of the book, and this is what he actually mentioned, and it alone is sufficient to indicate that this man is a scholar. But if he erred in some issues, and he composed the book while traveling, there is no surprise in him falling into such illusions which we will point out now, if Allah wills.
He says at the beginning of this issue: "And he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to place his knees before his hands, then his hands after them, then his forehead and nose." He said: "This is the correct report narrated by Shurayk from Asim ibn Kulayb from his father from Wa'il ibn Hujr: 'I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he prostrated, he placed his knees before his hands, and when he rose, he raised his hands before his knees, and nothing was reported in his practice that contradicts this.'"
Here, in these few words, we observe two very strange matters:
The first matter: He says, "This is the correct report narrated by Shurayk with the chain he mentioned." This Shurayk is Shurayk ibn Abdullah al-Qadi, and he is known among the scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) to be weak due to his poor memory. Of course, the time does not allow us to read to you the words of the imams regarding the criticism of this narrator, who is Shurayk, but we suffice with two citations:
The first citation: It is that among those who extracted this hadith is the Hafiz Imam al-Daraqutni in his "Sunan." When he finished narrating its chain and text, he said: "And Shurayk is not strong." So the extractor of the hadith, or one of the extractors of the hadith, weakens this hadith and attributes its defect to the fact that this Shurayk is not strong in hadith.
Then another citation we quote directly from a book by one of the authors in whom a beginner in hadith has no doubt about his knowledge, let alone others, that he has a standing of truth in this science; namely, the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators). I mean by that the Hafiz Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. So listen to his statement about him; he says: "He is truthful but makes many mistakes. His memory changed since he took up the judgeship in Kufa. He was a just, excellent, worshipper, and severe against the people of innovation." This is the biography of the Hafiz Ibn Hajar of Shurayk ibn Abdullah al-Qadi, the narrator of this hadith. So he gives him what he deserves of virtue in worship, righteousness, and the like—and the most important of that regarding hadith science is truthfulness; meaning: he does not lie. But he was overcome by his condition; so he made many mistakes, and his memory changed, meaning: it worsened when he took up the judgeship in Kufa. This is a natural, known matter; that every scholar who turned to a side in which he was strong, and conversely, weakened in the other sides from which he turned away.
So we are surprised after this by the statement of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah that this is the correct report narrated by Shurayk, and Shurayk does not narrate the correct; because he is weak in memory. Therefore, the Hafiz al-Dhahabi himself mentioned in the conclusion of the biography of this Shurayk from his book "Mizan al-I'tidal fi Naqd al-Rijal": "And Muslim extracted a supporting chain for him." Meaning that Muslim did not rely on Shurayk due to his poor memory, but rather narrated from him with a companion or a supporting chain from another. The word "supporting chain" alone is sufficient for one engaged in this science to know that the narrator is not relied upon in his hadith until someone supports him or compares him in narrating the same hadith. And the reality here is that Shurayk was unique in this hadith. This is the first thing taken against Imam Ibn al-Qayyim in the previous sentence.
And the second thing—and the last: his statement: "And nothing was reported in his practice that contradicts this." This is a slip of the pen due to the man's preoccupation, the issue of writing while traveling. Why? Because there is a hadith, I think he himself mentioned it, which is the hadith of Ibn Umar: "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to place his hands before his knees." He himself cited this hadith, and the discussion will come in its place, if Allah wills. So it is surprising that he said that it was not narrated, or "nothing was reported in his practice that contradicts this." Then Ibn al-Qayyim says, answering a question that arises in the mind of the student of his book: "As for the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, he raised it: ; he answers this hadith which is explicit in contradicting the hadith of Wa'il which Ibn al-Qayyim claimed was the correct one. It is opposed by the hadith of Abu Hurayrah raised to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and from his saying: ; meaning: he does not place his knees before his hands; because he (peace be upon him) said in the completion of the hadith: .
Listen to the answer of Ibn al-Qayyim; for in its beginning you feel its weakness. He says: "So the hadith—and Allah knows best—has an error from some of the narrators, for its beginning contradicts its end. For if he placed his hands before his knees, he has prostrated as a camel prostrates; for the camel only places its hands first." This is the doubt of all people, and it seems as if this doubt is not only inspired by the words of Ibn al-Qayyim; but it is a doubt that prevails over the majority of people who do not observe the camel when it lowers itself constantly and forever.
So let us discuss Ibn al-Qayyim in this claim; he says: "That the camel when it prostrates, when it kneels, only places its hands before its knees." I hope he means he places his knees.

The questioner : He says his hands.

The Shaykh : He says his hands, yes. He said: "For its beginning contradicts its end. For if he placed his hands before his knees—meaning: the one praying—he has prostrated as a camel prostrates, for the camel only places its hands first." He says: the camel places its hands first. So we remember the observed truth constantly and forever that the camel, like all four-legged animals, walks on four legs; so it is not conceivable that it is compared to the human, or it is compared to the human. The human walks on two legs, whereas the camel walks on four. Therefore, his statement that the camel, when it kneels, first places its hands, here is a leap, or a lapse; because we say: does the camel, when it walks, not have its legs placed? Of course, no one says it does not have its legs placed; it has its legs placed.
Is it walking while not having its hands placed? The answer is the same; it is walking with its hands and legs placed; so it walks on four.
So, to be aware of this error and the strange, wonderful thing, we must prepare to answer a very simple question, and yet most people are heedless of the correct answer to it. What is the first thing that touches the ground from its body when the camel kneels?
It is not correct to say "his hands," because his forelegs are positioned like his hind legs. So, what is the first part of the camel to touch the ground when it prostrates, when it kneels? The knees. It is not correct to say "the hands" as Ibn al-Qayyim said, that the first thing the camel does when it kneels is to place its hands. This is an error, because he has them placed permanently; from the day it falls from its mother's womb, it falls on four legs, it does not lean to the right or the left, then it walks like this, so it walks on four legs. How can it be said that the first thing it does when it kneels is to place its hands, when they are already placed? So the correct answer is: when the camel kneels, the first thing it places is... and we do not say "its knees" now, because here we are discussing a point from the author himself, and we will discuss it with him. Rather, we say: the first thing it places on the ground when it kneels is the joint in its forelegs, the joint in its forelegs. What is the name of this joint? The scholars of language, hadith, and the Prophetic biography are all in agreement that these two joints in the camel's forelegs are called knees. But the author does not accept this. So listen to his words, the entirety of his previous statement. He said: "And when the proponents of this view—meaning those who say regarding the second hadith that there is an error in it, which is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: —what does Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) say? 'And when the proponents of this view knew that, they said: The camel's knees are in its forelegs, not in its hind legs, so when it kneels, it places its knees first; this is what is prohibited.'"
Indeed, Ibn al-Qayyim is narrating the opinion of the scholars of hadith, the scholars of language, and others whom we mentioned who say: the camel's knees are in its forelegs.