Is the lowering for prostration done with the hands or with the knees?

The questioner: ... in the hadith, and it is: .

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: Before, O Shaykh, regarding the addition, meaning some scholars, may Allah the Exalted know best, O our Shaykh, the issue of "do not kneel down" (barak). They say that here it is a description, the description they intend, and *barak* in the language of the Arabs means that a man lowers himself with his chest toward the ground. So what is your opinion, O Shaykh, on this issue? Is it a description of the manner of kneeling, or is it intended to mean something else, meaning the hands and the knees?

The Shaykh: First, the hadith that came with what you call the addition is a sound and established hadith among the scholars, and there is no problem with it. Therefore, *barak* is not as you mentioned. You mentioned for the first time that I heard you say the scholars say: *barak* is with the chest.

The questioner: *Barak* means it is intended to be...

The Shaykh: What is this talk? Who says this talk?

The questioner: O our Shaykh, I had a discussion with one of the young men, so I did not look into this issue.

The Shaykh: No harm, my brother, no harm.

The questioner : Yes, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh: We must know, and this is what we are afflicted with in this time.

The questioner: I told him to verify this matter.

The Shaykh: *Barak* is placing the knees before the hands, and this is known linguistically and in usage. And in usage, there is a report mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim himself with a sound chain from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab: "That when he prostrated, he would kneel down as a camel kneels down"; he would place his knees before his hands. This is an Arabic expression widespread in the books of the Sunnah: "He kneels down as a camel kneels down, placing his knees before his hands." So the camel first places its knees. The problem is that the Arabs—except for whom Allah wills, and especially the common people—have become like the non-Arabs, not knowing Arabic. So the Arab says: the camel knelt down, meaning it placed its knees before anything else of its body. So this means, first, in the language, where "al-Fayruzabadi" and others say: "And the camel's knees are in its front, and so is every four-legged animal." So the sheep's knees are in its front.

The questioner: The hands, the knees.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: The knees.

The Shaykh: The sheep's knees are in its front, and so is every four-legged animal. So if the hadith were: without the specified addition, the Arab would not understand from it except the meaning of the addition. And I was able to say that I was imprisoned there in Syria, in a prison in the northeast of Syria in a town called al-Hasakah. There, most of them are Bedouins. A new prisoner entered who I knew from these prisoners they call political prisoners, and I knew he was a camel owner. Nevertheless, he prays with us, but he kneels down as a camel kneels down. So I raised this issue and asked him the following question: I said to him, since you are a camel owner, do you know that when the camel kneels down, what part of its body does it place before anything else? He said: Its knees. I said: Then you should not imitate your camel.

The questioner : Very good.

The Shaykh: Ah, this is something known among the Arabs that the camel kneels on its knees. And it came in the hadith: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited kneeling down as the camel kneels down, and turning around as the fox turns around, and pecking as the rooster or the crow pecks." So it is known among the Arabs who are addressed with this Arabic speech that he prohibited kneeling down as the camels kneel down. How do the camels kneel? It is known to them that it kneels on its knees. How does the fox turn around? He warned against it. So he prohibited imitating the animals. How does the rooster or the crow peck? It is in a hurry. These are issues that do not need explanation and clarification. But when foreignness entered the Arabs and they forgot much of their language, they began to interpret the hadiths other than their interpretation. Then we come to the action of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); where it is established from him that when he prostrated, he prostrated on his hands. And the hadith that says: is a weak hadith containing Sharik ibn 'Abd Allah al-Qadi, and he is known for his weakness. So this is what can be said. Peace be upon you.

The questioner: ... Peace, how are you?

The Shaykh : How are you?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: How are you? Peace be upon you.