How is tawruk and iftirash performed in prayer?

The questioner : , O our Shaykh, could you elaborate on the ruling regarding tawruk in a two-rak'ah prayer or in a two-rak'ah unit?

The Shaykh : In this issue, one should keep in mind two hadiths, and a third may be added to them. The first hadith is the statement of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them both): This hadith gives us a rule: that in every sitting in prayer, the one praying should sit in iftirash, placing his left foot under him and standing his right foot up. This rule, like all legal rules and general Prophetic verbal texts, must be applied and utilized except in the case where a text comes that specifies this general text or restricts it with other attributes. Before I elaborate on the explanation and clarification, I want to draw attention to a hadithological aspect upon which we will build the jurisprudential aspect. The hadithological aspect is: that the statement of a Companion regarding any of the legal acts of worship, saying "the Sunnah is such and such," this expression is considered a marfu' hadith. As they mentioned in the science of hadith terminology, if a Companion says "the Sunnah is such and such," it is considered marfu'. However, if a Tabi'i or someone below him says it, it does not have the status of marfu'. The one speaking here, who said "the Sunnah of prayer is such and such," is, as you heard, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them both). Therefore, this text indicates that the rule for the one praying when he sits includes this sitting in the first tashahhud, includes the sitting in the second tashahhud, whether there is a taslim or not, and includes the final tashahhud in which there is a taslim. It includes the sitting between the two prostrations, unless another text comes that clarifies in this text that it is a different matter that does not fall under this general text. Here comes the role of the second hadith, which is the hadith of Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi (may Allah be pleased with him), where he was sitting in a group of ten of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and he said to them: "Shall I show you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" They said: "You are not more knowledgeable about his prayer than we are." He said: "Yes, I am." They said: "Then show us" — bring it so we can see — so he began to perform the prayer he had seen from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When he was in the first tashahhud, he sat in iftirash as in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar. And when he was in the final tashahhud, which is before the taslim, he sat in tawruk, standing his right foot up and inserting his left foot under his right leg, and he sat on his hip on his thigh. And he said at the end of his hadith: "This is how I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) praying." So they said to him: "You have spoken the truth. This was the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." So this hadith of Abu Humayd contains agreement with the generality of the hadith of Ibn 'Umar in one aspect, which is what concerns the middle tashahhud. And in it is what I call a contradiction, a restriction or specification of the generality of the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, which is that the final tashahhud in which there is a taslim, the Sunnah in it is not iftirash with the left foot, but rather tawruk with it. I said earlier that one should keep in mind two hadiths, and a third may follow them. The two hadiths are now clear: one is a valid rule for every sitting, which is iftirash. The second hadith is the hadith of Abu Humayd, which distinguishes between the first/middle tashahhud and the final tashahhud in which there is a taslim. So the middle tashahhud agrees with the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, and the final tashahhud involves tawruk. We act according to both hadiths and do not negate one with the other, as some schools of jurisprudence did. For example, the Maliki school does not recognize any effect for iftirash; all sittings are tawruk, and this is something for which we have not found evidence in the Sunnah. On the contrary, the Hanafi school does not recognize in prayer anything but iftirash. So this is on one side and that on the other side. Combining the hadiths is what all scholars see, despite their differences in branches. As for the rule, one should combine the hadiths with each other and not negate the hadiths of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) with each other. The third hadith: the hadith of Wa'il in Sunan al-Nasa'i, in which he described that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed two rak'ahs and sat in iftirash in them. This agrees with the generality of the hadith of Ibn 'Umar specifically regarding the two-rak'ah prayer. This is how we should act according to all the hadiths, and not invalidate any of them at the expense of the other hadith. This is the answer to the previous question. Yes.

The questioner : Is there tawruk ... ?

The Shaykh : Your question is also wrong. Do you see the combination? I answer you: yes, there is no difference. But you mean that the imam does not do tawruk. You mean that the imam does not do tawruk, or if he does do tawruk?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... May Allah guide you. Answer with yes or no?

The questioner : ... It has no relation to the imam.

The Shaykh : It has no relation to the imam.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : It does not harm except one who is new to tawruk or does not know how to do tawruk, because the meaning of tawruk is not to sit in iftirash like this, taking up the space of two people. Tawruk for those who are accustomed to it is like iftirash; it does not bother others at all. The one who does not know how to do tawruk spreads his thighs and leans to his left side, so he actually bothers them. But the one who has practiced tawruk does not bother anyone at all. Therefore, we tell him: this which you think bothers your neighbors, especially those on your left, practice tawruk, and soften the nerves of your legs so that you do not feel that there is a difference between your iftirash and your tawruk in prayer. So you, when you imagine now that there is bother, where does this bother come from in your imagination? If you do tawruk, where does the bother come from?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Perhaps you mean you hurt the one on your right. This is wrong, my brother. When you put the left leg under the right leg, the left leg does not form a right angle with the right leg, do you see? Rather, it forms an obtuse angle. There is a difference between this and this. This hurts the one on your right. But look, the space here for this, all of it has the distance. It shortens and shortens until it reaches the right foot which is standing. And we have been applying this Sunnah for at least fifty years, and we do not feel any bother to our neighbors, neither the one on our right nor the one on our left. But this, as I told you at the beginning of the speech, is one who does not know how to do tawruk, so he feels that he is hurting his companion. So you, if you see a person like this, then teach him how to do tawruk, if Allah wills.

The questioner : Is there a correct evidence in the Sunnah, explicit or nearly so, that makes tawruk specific to the third and fourth rak'ahs, excluding the second if it is the last?

The Shaykh : Now we have mentioned, we will now mention two things and summarize our previous speech. We have evidence for this. First, the hadith of Ibn 'Umar Did it include the two-rak'ah prayer or not?

The questioner : Did it include the two-rak'ah prayer ... .

The Shaykh : Are you asking about iftirash or tawruk?

The questioner : Ask about tawruk in the third and fourth, excluding the second if it is the last, meaning specifying tawruk in the third and fourth, if it is the last in Maghrib and 'Isha, excluding the two-rak'ah if it is in Fajr?

The Shaykh : I understood from your question that what is the evidence that there is no tawruk in the second, or is your question what is the evidence that there is no iftirash in the second?

The questioner : No, my question is that there is no tawruk?

The Shaykh : I answered you this, , we mentioned it.

The questioner : The hadith of Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi ... .

The Shaykh : Then, we brought the third hadith, which is the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr, in which he described the prayer of the Prophet and mentioned in it iftirash.

The questioner : Iftirash. As for the hadith of Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi, is it for the third as well or for the fourth, O our Shaykh?

The Shaykh : No, now this has become a second question.

The questioner : Meaning completing it all in some.

The Shaykh : In any case, there is no difference between the second and the third, by the evidence of the previous detail. What do we do in every sitting in prayer? We stand the right foot up and sit in iftirash with the left, except where evidence has arisen to specify this hadith. I mentioned just now the evidences for tawruk in prayer in the final tashahhud, which is the hadith of Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi and those of the Companions present who agreed with him.