Reconciling the hadiths regarding the manner of prostration
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Question:
My honorable master, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
In response to what appeared in your letter regarding the manner of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer on page 16, which states: "... and he prostrates while saying takbir, placing his knees before his hands if that is easy for him; if it is difficult for him, he places his knees forward facing the qiblah... until... the prostration of a dog." This contradicts what Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani wrote in his book (The Description of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) Prayer from Takbir to Taslim) regarding placing the hands before the knees. What is your esteemed opinion on the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud, which states:Sunan Abi Dawud 840Sahih (Al-Albani).
Also, I ask your esteemed self to clarify the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) and explain its chain of narration regarding reciting more than al-Fatihah in the last two rak'ahs.
May Allah guide us to what is of great good, and we ask Him to keep evil and evildoers, and fire and destruction, away from us. Amen. And our final prayer is that all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Your sister in Islam / H. A. N.
Answer:
From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the presence of the sister in Allah, H. A. May Allah guide her to all good and complete for her the blessing of Islam. Amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
In response to your letter dated Saturday, 23/Rajab/1413 AH.
In which you follow up on a previous letter from you dated 17/Rabi' al-Awwal/1413 AH. I was pleased by your eagerness for knowledge and your interest in researching matters of Islamic law. May Allah increase you in success and grant you beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds.
As for the first letter, I do not remember it. And your inquiry regarding the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) about the prostration of the camel and the extent to which it contradicts the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr regarding the manner of the Messenger of Allah's (peace and blessings be upon him) prostration.
I inform you that the text of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 840Sahih (Al-Albani) and the beginning of the hadith does not contradict the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr, in which he said: Sunan Abi Dawud 838Da'if (Al-Albani).
This is regarding placing the knees forward, because the camel prostrates on its hands first, so if the one praying places his knees forward, he does not prostrate like the prostration of the camel.
As for its statement at the end, "and let him place his hands before his knees"; the most apparent is that this is a reversal by the narrator, because it contradicts the beginning of the hadith.
The correct version is "and let him place his knees before his hands" so that the end of the hadith agrees with its beginning... and with the aforementioned hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr and what came in its meaning.
As for the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) which you asked about, it was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, and this is its text:Bulugh al-Maram 2:173 May Allah guide you to what is good in this world and the Hereafter, and increase you in eagerness and obedience to Allah. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
My honorable master, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
In response to what appeared in your letter regarding the manner of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer on page 16, which states: "... and he prostrates while saying takbir, placing his knees before his hands if that is easy for him; if it is difficult for him, he places his knees forward facing the qiblah... until... the prostration of a dog." This contradicts what Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani wrote in his book (The Description of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) Prayer from Takbir to Taslim) regarding placing the hands before the knees. What is your esteemed opinion on the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud, which states:
when one of you prostrates himself he must not kneel in the manner of camel, but should put down his hands before his knees.
إذا سجد أحدكم فلا يبرك كما يبرك البعير وليضع يديه قبل ركبتيهAlso, I ask your esteemed self to clarify the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) and explain its chain of narration regarding reciting more than al-Fatihah in the last two rak'ahs.
May Allah guide us to what is of great good, and we ask Him to keep evil and evildoers, and fire and destruction, away from us. Amen. And our final prayer is that all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Your sister in Islam / H. A. N.
Answer:
From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the presence of the sister in Allah, H. A. May Allah guide her to all good and complete for her the blessing of Islam. Amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
In response to your letter dated Saturday, 23/Rajab/1413 AH.
In which you follow up on a previous letter from you dated 17/Rabi' al-Awwal/1413 AH. I was pleased by your eagerness for knowledge and your interest in researching matters of Islamic law. May Allah increase you in success and grant you beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds.
As for the first letter, I do not remember it. And your inquiry regarding the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) about the prostration of the camel and the extent to which it contradicts the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr regarding the manner of the Messenger of Allah's (peace and blessings be upon him) prostration.
I inform you that the text of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
when one of you prostrates himself he must not kneel in the manner of camel, but should put down his hands before his knees
إذا سجد أحدكم فلا يبرك كما يبرك البعير وليضع يديه قبل ركبيتهI saw that the Prophet (ﷺ) placed his knees (on the ground) before placing his hands when he prostrated himself
رأيت النبي ﷺ إذا سجد وضع ركبتيه قبل يديهThis is regarding placing the knees forward, because the camel prostrates on its hands first, so if the one praying places his knees forward, he does not prostrate like the prostration of the camel.
As for its statement at the end, "and let him place his hands before his knees"; the most apparent is that this is a reversal by the narrator, because it contradicts the beginning of the hadith.
The correct version is "and let him place his knees before his hands" so that the end of the hadith agrees with its beginning... and with the aforementioned hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr and what came in its meaning.
As for the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) which you asked about, it was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, and this is its text:
We used to estimate the length of the standing position of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in the Zuhr and 'Asr prayers, and we estimated that he stood in the first two Rak'a of the Zuhr prayer as long as it takes to recite Alif-Lam-Mim, Tanzil (Surat As-Sajdah) and in the last two Rak'a, half the time of that. And in the first two Rak'a of 'Asr, he used to stand as long as the last two of the Zuhr. And the last two Rak'a of 'Asr used to be of about half the time of the first two.
قال كنا نحرز قيام رسول الله ﷺ في الظهر والعصر، فحرزنا قيامه في الركعتين الأوليين من الظهر قدر ألم تنزيل السجدة، وفي الأخريين قدر النصف من ذلك، وفي الأوليين من العصر على قدر الأخريين من الظهر، والأخريين على النصف من ذلك
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.