The Shaykh’s guidance to those present on placing the hands before the knees when descending into prostration.

The Shaykh : I heard from behind me, while we were prostrating, a thud. This thud tells me that the one who made the sound did so because he deviated from the Sunnah in his manner of descending into prostration. He should perform prostration according to the Sunnah by receiving the ground with his two hands instead of his knees, contrary to the Sunnah. He received the ground with his knees, and that caused the thud. This is among the ill omens of deviating from the Sunnah. Most people, even some scholars, are heedless of this Sunnah. Perhaps demonstrating this point is more impactful on the hearts than merely stating it briefly, as it came in "Sahih al-Bukhari" from the hadith of Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi: Here is the point: , meaning he was on the minbar. In the expression of some countries, on the stage, they see how he bows, how he prostrates, how he separates his elbows, and so on. So now we say that the Sunnah is that when the Muslim descends into prostration, he should receive the ground with his two hands, not with his knees. That is what people do today, like this. It is a bit difficult, but the thud remains. Please.

The questioner : Like this...

The Shaykh : This is a mistake...

The questioner : May Allah bless you and reward you with good.

The Shaykh : This is a Sunnah, and many people argue about it, whether with knowledge or without. I want to remind those who benefit students of knowledge, because this matter is not found in the books that deal with this issue. They cite the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr: This hadith of Wa'il contains Shurayk ibn Abdullah al-Qadi, who has poor memory. As al-Hafiz al-Daraqutni said specifically about this hadith, and he cited it through the route of Shurayk ibn Abdullah al-Qadi, saying: "And Shurayk is not strong." This is a matter on which there is no disagreement among the scholars of hadith, especially the later ones. That is, it is not an authentic hadith, nor a good hadith; it is a weak hadith. It may be elevated to the level of good or authentic by corroborating narrations, but that is not the case here. This hadith is the first mentioned by the majority of scholars. The second hadith mentioned is the hadith of Ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab: , and this is in "al-Mustadrak" by al-Hakim, and he authenticated it according to the conditions of Muslim. In its chain is 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Abi Rawad, and there is some discussion about him, but in any case, this chain is stronger than the previous one, so it opposes it. This is the second hadith mentioned on this occasion. The third hadith is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in "Sunan Abu Dawud." He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . I do not want to delve now into the disagreement existing between those who adopt this hadith, who are the scholars of hadith in general and the Malikis in particular. I do not want to mention what Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah said in his book "Zad al-Ma'ad" regarding his claim that there is a transposition in this hadith. I do not want to delve into this because that is not the intention. The intention is that these three hadiths are the ones mentioned on this topic by both groups, and each answers with what they have. But the thing I want to mention is what is not mentioned on this occasion. It came in more than one hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) . So now, you Arabs, stand up. You, as you saw some of them today, are deliberate in your descent, or rather, more accurately, in your prostration on your knees, according to the Hanafi school, you are deliberate.

The questioner : I descend on my knees.

The Shaykh : Yes, but slowly, slowly. Yes, you did well in demonstrating. Is it said in language that he "descended"? Is it said "he descended" to you, O Arabs? Well, he is prostrating on his hands, is this not the descent? So take this linguistic benefit, which is never mentioned in this research. Meanwhile, this is a text. When it is said "he descended into prostration," it means with force. But this deliberation in prostrating on the knees, and do you know why? Because they feel that when they descend on their knees, this thud is emitted. And this thud contradicts his saying (peace be upon him): , a hadith in "Sahih Muslim" from the narration of Jabir ibn Samurah. And so they treat the mistake with another mistake, according to the school of Abu Nuwas: "And treat with that which was the disease." They deviate from the first Sunnah with another Sunnah, meaning they are deliberate, deviating from the descent. Why? Because he said in the first Sunnah . Here we must pause with the people of the desert, the Arabs who own camels. If you ask an Arab, "Where is the camel's knee?" he is perplexed, and this is strange. In the end, he realizes that the camel's knee is in its forelegs. So when the camel kneels, it kneels on its knees, is that not so, O Abu Asid? May Allah bless you. Therefore, the one who is praying should not imitate the camel. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited kneeling like the kneeling of camels, turning like the turning of a fox, and pecking like the pecking of a rooster . So if we did not have all these texts that clearly and explicitly indicate that prostration should be on the two hands and not on the knees, the prohibition of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in general of imitating animals, and in particular of imitating the camel, would suffice. We should remember that the camel kneels on its knees. So you, O worshippers, do not kneel on your knees and emit that thud and noise that we hear from the camel when it kneels, especially when it is loaded with heavy weights. In Damascus, until recently, the Damascenes had not yet spread the use of diesel engines. They would burn firewood, walnut wood and apricot wood. They would cut this wood from the eastern Ghouta. You would find camels, mules, and donkeys carrying these woods to sell them to the bakeries and for the winter days, and so on. You would find the camel loaded with this heavy wood when it kneels, and the ground was paved with large stones before asphalt was laid. And you are next to a camel, and you feel that the ground trembled under you. Why? Because it kneels on its knees. Glory be to Allah, we find this thud from the worshippers while they are praying.

The questioner : ... We know, O Master, the Shaykh.

The Shaykh : O Master, the Shaykh, I am not... I am reminding you, and the reminder benefits the believers. And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The student: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. The intention, the intention is that you pay attention first to the Sunnah, whether it agrees with your customs and desires or not. Second: the Sunnah contains good and blessing in all its manifestations, in all its types and forms. And this is the example before you. A person prostrates on his knees, deviating from his action (peace be upon him), which is authentic from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, and deviating from his saying, which is authentic from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: . As if someone says, "What should we do, O Messenger of Allah?" . Then he deviates from the Sunnah on which there is no disagreement, but few remember it. And I want the Shaykh here to hear what I said earlier in the authentic hadiths: . In some narrations: , agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. In some narrations: , "he descended into prostration." This meaning is not realized in terms of Arabic language unless he descended relying on his two hands and not on his knees. And this hadith is not mentioned in this research in all the books.