If the imam is one who places his knees before his hands when going down into prostration, and the ma'mum places his hands before his knees, is he thereby contradicting the imam?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah reward you. If the imam is one who places his knees before his hands when he goes down into prostration, is it a contradiction of the imam for the ma'mum to place his hands before his knees in this situation?
The Shaykh : What appears to me is that it is not a contradiction, because he has not lagged behind him nor moved ahead of him. This is unlike the sitting of rest (istirahah); if the imam does not sit for rest, it is prescribed for the ma'mum not to sit, because by sitting he would lag behind. But in this case, he neither lags behind nor moves ahead.
It is like if the imam held the view that tawarruk is prescribed in every final tashahhud, even in a two-rak'ah prayer, or held the view that iftirash is prescribed even in the second tashahhud of a prayer that has two tashahhuds, and the ma'mum contradicted him. In that case, it would not be considered a contradiction. It appears that this is not a contradiction, and there is no blame on the ma'mum for placing his hands before his knees.
However, I advise the ma'mum not to place his hands before his knees, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade that. He said:Sunan Abi Dawud 840Sahih (Al-Albani) And when a camel kneels, it places its hands first, and everyone knows that.
The hadith does not say "do not kneel on what the camel kneels on." If it had said "on what the camel kneels on," we would say: do not kneel on your knees, because the camel kneels on its knees. But it said: "do not kneel as the camel kneels." The prohibition is regarding the manner and the description. So let a person look: if he places his hands before his knees, he becomes exactly like a camel.
Therefore, we advise our brothers to reflect carefully on the hadith to understand its implication, and then to act according to what its wording indicates. We see that one should place his knees before his hands, and this is also the natural order. The first thing to touch the ground, which is fixed, is the knee, then the hands, then the forehead and nose. Similarly, when standing up, one raises the forehead and nose, then the hands, then the knees. Yes.
The Shaykh : What appears to me is that it is not a contradiction, because he has not lagged behind him nor moved ahead of him. This is unlike the sitting of rest (istirahah); if the imam does not sit for rest, it is prescribed for the ma'mum not to sit, because by sitting he would lag behind. But in this case, he neither lags behind nor moves ahead.
It is like if the imam held the view that tawarruk is prescribed in every final tashahhud, even in a two-rak'ah prayer, or held the view that iftirash is prescribed even in the second tashahhud of a prayer that has two tashahhuds, and the ma'mum contradicted him. In that case, it would not be considered a contradiction. It appears that this is not a contradiction, and there is no blame on the ma'mum for placing his hands before his knees.
However, I advise the ma'mum not to place his hands before his knees, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade that. He said:
when one of you prostrates himself he must not kneel in the manner of camel
إذا سجد أحدكم فلا يبرك كما يبرك البعيرThe hadith does not say "do not kneel on what the camel kneels on." If it had said "on what the camel kneels on," we would say: do not kneel on your knees, because the camel kneels on its knees. But it said: "do not kneel as the camel kneels." The prohibition is regarding the manner and the description. So let a person look: if he places his hands before his knees, he becomes exactly like a camel.
Therefore, we advise our brothers to reflect carefully on the hadith to understand its implication, and then to act according to what its wording indicates. We see that one should place his knees before his hands, and this is also the natural order. The first thing to touch the ground, which is fixed, is the knee, then the hands, then the forehead and nose. Similarly, when standing up, one raises the forehead and nose, then the hands, then the knees. Yes.