Benefits of the Hadith: (… Aisha said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting while sitting in any part of the night prayer until he said the takbir, then he recited while sitting…)
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The Shaykh : Yes, this hadith informs us that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in his youth, what was he doing?
The student: He prayed standing.
The Shaykh : He prayed standing, but when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) grew old, he began to pray sitting. So now we ask: Do we tell a person to start the prayer standing, and if he gets tired, to sit? Or do we tell him to sit, and when he is about to bow, to stand up? The second option or the first?
The student: The first.
Another student: It depends, it depends on the…
The Shaykh : The hadith that you have, everyone?
The student: The first.
Another student: The second one.
The Shaykh : The hadith that you have?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You, I may have confused the first and the second for you. Do we say to start the prayer standing, and if you get tired, sit? Or do we say to start it sitting, and when you are about to bow, stand up?
The student: The second.
The Shaykh : The second?
The student: …, according to the hadith…
The Shaykh : Now, what does Aisha say in the hadith? She says that he prays sitting, and when he has about thirty verses or so remaining, he stands up and bows. In voluntary prayer, the matter is broad, but in the obligatory prayer, if a person cannot stand in the obligatory prayer except for part of it, do we say to start the prayer standing, and if you get tired, sit? Or do we say to start it sitting, and when you want to bow, when you are about to bow, bow?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : We say that as for the one who is behind an imam, it is the first option, because he does not act on his own. Perhaps the imam shortens the recitation, and this person is able to stand without fatigue or hardship. So we say to start it standing, and if you get tired, sit. Then, if you are able to stand up again at the time of bowing, do so, because bowing from a standing position is better than bowing from a sitting position. As for a person praying alone in the obligatory prayer, we say if the fatigue is severe on you and you cannot recite even half of al-Fatihah, start the prayer sitting, then complete it standing at the time of bowing, by analogy to what? By analogy to voluntary prayer. And perhaps we say to prevent analogy, and that the obligatory prayer is started standing in all cases, so if one is unable, he sits. The point of difference and the prevention of analogy is that standing in the obligatory prayer is a pillar, and standing in voluntary prayer is not a pillar, it is a recommended practice. So if it is a recommended practice, we say to start the prayer sitting, then stand up. And this is closer to the truth: to say that the original rule in the obligatory prayer is that standing is one of its pillars, so start with standing first. Then, if you get tired and are unable to complete, and not even al-Fatihah, because you are dizzy, for example, or you get tired from the knees, or otherwise, sit. So you start first with what you are able to do, then with what you are not able to do. Accordingly, a distinction is made between the obligatory and the voluntary, so the obligatory is not analogized to the voluntary in this, because standing in the voluntary is a recommended practice and standing in the obligatory is a pillar. This difference is added to the differences we enumerated previously, which reached more than?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : What? More than twenty.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, more than twenty. Eight above twenty makes more than twenty. Okay, yes, Ayub?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Do you have the book?
The student: Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes? Muhammad?
The student: He prayed standing.
The Shaykh : He prayed standing, but when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) grew old, he began to pray sitting. So now we ask: Do we tell a person to start the prayer standing, and if he gets tired, to sit? Or do we tell him to sit, and when he is about to bow, to stand up? The second option or the first?
The student: The first.
Another student: It depends, it depends on the…
The Shaykh : The hadith that you have, everyone?
The student: The first.
Another student: The second one.
The Shaykh : The hadith that you have?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You, I may have confused the first and the second for you. Do we say to start the prayer standing, and if you get tired, sit? Or do we say to start it sitting, and when you are about to bow, stand up?
The student: The second.
The Shaykh : The second?
The student: …, according to the hadith…
The Shaykh : Now, what does Aisha say in the hadith? She says that he prays sitting, and when he has about thirty verses or so remaining, he stands up and bows. In voluntary prayer, the matter is broad, but in the obligatory prayer, if a person cannot stand in the obligatory prayer except for part of it, do we say to start the prayer standing, and if you get tired, sit? Or do we say to start it sitting, and when you want to bow, when you are about to bow, bow?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : We say that as for the one who is behind an imam, it is the first option, because he does not act on his own. Perhaps the imam shortens the recitation, and this person is able to stand without fatigue or hardship. So we say to start it standing, and if you get tired, sit. Then, if you are able to stand up again at the time of bowing, do so, because bowing from a standing position is better than bowing from a sitting position. As for a person praying alone in the obligatory prayer, we say if the fatigue is severe on you and you cannot recite even half of al-Fatihah, start the prayer sitting, then complete it standing at the time of bowing, by analogy to what? By analogy to voluntary prayer. And perhaps we say to prevent analogy, and that the obligatory prayer is started standing in all cases, so if one is unable, he sits. The point of difference and the prevention of analogy is that standing in the obligatory prayer is a pillar, and standing in voluntary prayer is not a pillar, it is a recommended practice. So if it is a recommended practice, we say to start the prayer sitting, then stand up. And this is closer to the truth: to say that the original rule in the obligatory prayer is that standing is one of its pillars, so start with standing first. Then, if you get tired and are unable to complete, and not even al-Fatihah, because you are dizzy, for example, or you get tired from the knees, or otherwise, sit. So you start first with what you are able to do, then with what you are not able to do. Accordingly, a distinction is made between the obligatory and the voluntary, so the obligatory is not analogized to the voluntary in this, because standing in the voluntary is a recommended practice and standing in the obligatory is a pillar. This difference is added to the differences we enumerated previously, which reached more than?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : What? More than twenty.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, more than twenty. Eight above twenty makes more than twenty. Okay, yes, Ayub?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Do you have the book?
The student: Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes? Muhammad?