Lowering oneself to prostration on the hands, not on the knees.

The Shaykh : The thought that came to my mind, as I mentioned, is to support a legal ruling. Although most people are ignorant of this ruling, we praise Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) for guiding many Muslims, especially the youth, to learn about this ruling and act upon it. It is lowering oneself to prostration on the hands, not on the knees. The majority of worshippers, when they prostrate, do so on their knees, whereas the Sunnah is to prostrate on the hands, to meet the ground with the hands, not the knees. This has wisdoms, the clearest of which is that it prevents the shock of the ground from affecting him if he were to prostrate on his knees.
I do not wish to delve into this, but there is a corresponding Sunnah to this one. When the worshipper intends to rise from the second prostration to the second rak'ah, or from the tashahhud to the third rak'ah, how does he rise? Does he rise relying on his hands, as we believe is the correct Sunnah, or does he rise relying on his knees? There is an old disagreement among jurists on this issue. The correct, explicit, and established Sunnah in Sahih al-Bukhari is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he rose to the second rak'ah, would not rise unless he sat in a light sitting, which is known among jurists as the sitting of rest, and then he would rise relying on his hands.
Up to this point, the issue is detailed and explained in the books of hadith and jurisprudence. However, there is a difficulty for some people, even scholars, regarding the hadith that was one of the proofs for lowering oneself on the hands to the ground. That hadith is his saying (peace be upon him): ; that is, the second part of the hadith explains the first part. The first part says: ; as if someone were to ask: How does the camel kneel? And how is the opposition to the camel? The answer is: . Thus, the opposition to the camel in lowering oneself is in this form, which is explained in the hadith itself. There are interpretations and differences of opinion that are not our concern here.
Now, the hadith regarding the manner of rising does not contradict this, and this specific hadith does not address the manner of rising. But I say—and this is the thought, and this is the point of discussion—if there is a general principle that it is not permissible for a Muslim to imitate animals, just as it is not permissible to imitate a disbeliever; this is a rule in Islam. It is not permissible for a Muslim to imitate animals, nor is it permissible for him to imitate disbelievers. There are many hadiths in both matters, prohibiting the imitation of disbelievers and prohibiting the imitation of animals. Especially in prayer; for example, in prayer, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited kneeling like the kneeling of a camel, turning like the turning of a fox, and pecking like a crow in the haste of prayer. The point is that he prohibited imitating these animals. Now, if we keep in mind how the camel kneels, we must consequently keep in mind how the camel rises. There is a strange disagreement on the first issue, how the camel kneels; because if the camel lived in a world other than ours, we might be excused for not knowing how it kneels. But since it lives in our world, indeed in our lands, it is one of the strangest of wonders that Muslim scholars, let alone others, still differ in their conception of how the camel kneels. The hadith that matches observation is decisive that the camel kneels on its knees, but its knees are in its front. Here we leave the detailed discussion to its known place in Zad al-Ma'ad and others regarding this disagreement. But I say now: the camel walks on four legs, so if it kneels, it is not correct to say: "It knelt on its hands"; because its hands are placed like its legs always. So on what does it kneel? On its joints, which are in its front. What is the name of these two joints? The knees. This is its place in the books of language, and it is well known.
Thus, since the camel kneels on its knees, we are prohibited from imitating animals in general, and this particular envious animal, which is cited as an example of envy, in particular. So we do not kneel as the camel kneels; that is, we do not place our knees before our hands. In other words, we do not meet the ground with the knees as the camel does, but we meet the ground with the hands, where that camel cannot do so; because the camel walks on four legs.
Now the opposite—and here is the point—confirms this fact for them. When the camel rises, on what does it rely? Tell us now, when the camel rises, on what does it rely?

The questioner : Its knees.

The Shaykh : On its knees. Imagine with me a second camel in its front; it relies on these two joints, which are the knees. So if the worshipper rises relying on his knees, he has resembled the camel. Therefore, the Sunnah came regarding what to rely on when rising? On the hands. So there is no separation for anyone who opposes this correct Sunnah and that one as well; but this one is clearer, and the known objection regarding lowering oneself does not apply to it. There is no way for anyone who opposes the Sunnah of relying on the hands when rising to avoid resembling the camel; because the camel necessarily relies on its knees when it rises, not on its hands; because its hands are in the rear, so it relies on its knees. So you, O Muslim, if you want to embody and verify the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , do not first kneel with the kneeling of the camel. Do not meet the ground with your knees, but with your hands. Then do not rise relying on your knees, but on your hands. The hands are what one relies on, both in lowering and in rising. Lowering on the hands is prohibited, and rising on the hands is what we rely on.
This point—and especially the second one—is the thought that came to me so that our brothers, the students of knowledge, can grasp this issue from all its aspects with its evidence from the Book and sound logic that corresponds to reality.
This is what I wanted to clarify, and now...

The questioner : Yes, when rising.

The Shaykh : Yes, we have now discussed this in particular, as we said, only to clarify the difference, which is? That the camel rises relying on the knees. As for the detail, it is known that it relies on its fists.