What is the ruling on worldly supplication in prostration?

The questioner: Oh my master, by Allah, I mean, speaking for myself, I am the most ignorant of our religion... regarding prayer.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner: But is supplication in prostration permissible or not permissible, especially in the obligatory prayer?

The Shaykh: Especially in the obligatory prayer, there is no doubt that the answer is that the principle is that it is permissible, indeed it is recommended, because...

The questioner: So, especially worldly supplication.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: If it is worldly supplication.

The Shaykh: The answer does not differ except with some detail. There is no doubt that supplication in prostration is a permissible matter, indeed it is recommended, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is the principle. But there is a difference between the supplicant being an imam and being alone or a follower. Here there is a distinction. The imam is commanded to do something different from the follower. The follower is commanded to follow, whether the imam lengthens the prayer or shortens it. The one praying alone has the choice; if he wishes, he shortens, and if he wishes, he lengthens, and so on. So, if it occurs to the imam to supplicate in prostration, he should not lengthen it for the people to the point that they find his lengthening burdensome. As for when he is a follower behind the imam and finds that the imam has lengthened the prostration, he should seize the opportunity and supplicate; he has that right. And more clearly, if he prays alone, then at that time, let him supplicate whatever he wishes of supplication. This is regarding the detail between being an imam, a follower, or alone. As for the difference between supplicating for worldly matters or otherworldly matters, there is no doubt that there is no disagreement among the scholars of the Muslims, all of them, regarding the permissibility of supplication in prostration and in the tashahhud regarding matters of the Hereafter. As for what concerns matters of this world, the majority permit it, and the Hanafis invalidate the prayer with worldly supplication. They give as an example, for instance, if one says in his prayer, whether he is in tashahhud or in prostration, for example: "O Allah, marry me to so-and-so," his prayer is invalidated. However, based on the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), his prayer is valid, because he did not supplicate for a sin or for severing family ties. If he supplicated for a sin or severing family ties, he would have sinned, but we do not say his prayer is invalidated, because invalidating the prayer of the one praying by opinion without a text is not permissible in Islam, because it involves invalidating a worship without a Sharia evidence. But I mention this because there is disagreement in the issue. However, the correct view is that the Muslim, after the first detail, if he supplicates in his prostration for a worldly matter, as long as it does not contain a sin or severing of family ties, there is no harm in it. Why? Because the matter is as he said (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith: As for the weak hadith that Abdullah ibn Lahi'ah al-Misri narrated alone, its wording is: This is a hadith with no chain; it has no valid isnad, and the correct one is the first wording: And from the perspective of Arabic, it is contrary to what some people imagine. His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): is more eloquent than if the hadith were: Because this aligns with the saying of those who say Islam is a core and a shell. When he says: It is as if he made what? Supplication is all worship, on the scale of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is an eloquent Arabic expression indicating the importance of Hajj, as if it is the whole of Hajj, and this is a pillar. Likewise, when he said (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir: Its meaning is that supplication manifests the slave's servitude to his Lord. If you asked him, as it came in some hadiths, I do not remember it now, perhaps some of my brothers, the students of knowledge, will help us, because I think there is weakness in its chain: .

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Ah, yes, even what? The strap of the sandal broke, meaning, for example, the buckle broke, the strap of it broke, ask Allah for it. This is a purely worldly matter. But this worldly matter, when you turn to your Lord with it, contains the utmost manifestation of your need for your Lord, because you do not possess for your self any harm or benefit. So, supplicate with whatever you wish of the matters of this world and the Hereafter, as long as it is not a sin.