The issue of lowering oneself to prostration.

The questioner : In the additions of Ibn Hibban, they cite a chain of narration through Isra'il. I checked it and found it authentic.

The Shaykh: What is it?

The questioner : Wail ibn Hujayr says, and this is through the route of Isra'il, "I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he prostrated, his knees would precede his hands." So they held fast to this and said, this is the factor that shifts the prohibition to being disliked.

The Shaykh : First, it is not in my mind that this hadith has an authentic chain, but what matters to us now, because the issue requires recalling the chain, do you recall anything?
Al-Halabi : You said, Your Eminence, in the second volume of the Weak Chains, you clarified that this is a distortion from Shurayk, and you referred to the copy of al-Mawarid available in the Mahmudiyyah Library in Medina.

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
Al-Halabi : Yes, that is correct, and I said that this is a scribal error from Isra'il, from Shurayk to Isra'il.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. I wanted to move past this point, and the Hafiz here, what Allah willed, has given us his support. Is it permissible for us to say "has given us his support"?

The questioner : It is sufficient for him.

The Shaykh : So I wanted to answer regarding an argument that does not state that he placed his knees, and therefore it does not contradict the hadith of Abu Hurayrah at all, unless he struck the ground with his knees. Because the reality, based on my experience with people and students of knowledge in particular, and some scholars as well, is that they find difficulty with his explicit statement (peace be upon him), which is This is an address to everyone, because you are all among the worshippers, if Allah wills. He (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) says Here, it is as if a questioner is asking the Messenger (peace be upon him), but the Messenger, one of whose characteristics was that he was given the sum of speech, often answers what might come to mind.The questioner : He teaches them the answer before the question is put to him. So it is as if a questioner there is wondering and saying, "When one of you prostrates, let him not kneel like a camel kneels." How does a camel kneel? He gives the answer in advance and says This is, as they say today, putting the dots on the letters. Some of our scholars, both past and present, find difficulty with this hadith, saying that this hadith contradicts its beginning with its end and its end with its beginning. He prohibits the kneeling of camels, but the image with which the hadith ends is the action of the camel. And here lies their error. They imagine the image mentioned in the previous hadith, that when a camel kneels, it actually keeps its rear end, and I almost said its backside, there is no harm in that, of course, in language, but it might be considered offensive by some people, so its rear end is higher than its head. So if you kneel like this, meaning you place your hands before your knees, what does that mean? You have imitated the camel. So I say, no, you have erred. When we prostrate, we combine two things: the first command that the Messenger (peace be upon him) commanded us with, and the matter you have finished discussing, which you did not understand well, the saying of your Prophet (peace be upon him). That is because when we prostrate and strike the ground with our palms, then follow it by placing our knees, our head is higher, and I say it explicitly, than our backside. So there is absolutely no imitation of the camel here. They imagine that when we prostrate like this, no, we prostrate like this so that there is nothing between the placement of the knees and their touching the ground except the fingers, and our head is above. Here, they imagine it like an elderly, weak Bedouin man prostrating like this, little by little, so his head is below and his rear end is above. No, that is not the case. Therefore, as I said earlier, regarding sitting in prayer, one should practice it so that we do not bother those who do not know this Sunnah. Likewise, lowering oneself to prostration, we do not leave room for confirming the doubts of others, but rather we combine removing their doubt and applying the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). This is the meaning of his saying (peace be upon him) The important thing is only placing the hands before the knees; it is not important that your rear end is higher than your front or your head. And this is the Sunnah, if Allah wills. We ask Allah to inspire us with the knowledge of the Sunnah first, and then its practical application second. We want to pray 'Asr now. In the name of Allah.