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Fatwa CenterWhen in Sujood should hands or knees touch floor first?
Question
When you bow down to make Sujood in the Salat, do you put your hands on the floor first, or your knees first? Please, provide us with proof from Sunnah! According to Sheikh al Albani's book, you put your hands first!
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
The jurists have two different opinions regarding the manners of bowing down to prostrate during the prayers.
According to the first opinion a praying person should let his knees reach the floor before his hands. This is the opinion of Hanafites, Shafites and Hanbalites. They base their opinion on the Hadith narrated by Imams Abu Dawood, Tirmizi, Nasai on the authority of Wail Ibn Hujr he said: "I saw the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, while prostrating, placing his knees (on the floor) before his hands and when on getting up from prostration raising his hands before his knees". There is another Hadith supporting this viewpoint. Mus'ab narrated from his father that he said: "We used to place hands on floor before the knees then we were ordered to place the knees before hands". [Ibn Kuzaimah].
The scholars of Hadith differ about the authenticity of these Ahadith. They have a vast discussion regarding some narrators of the Wail's Hadith, whether the narration of such narrators reaches the degree of soundness or not? Anyway, some of them regard the first Hadith as sound while others consider it a weak Hadith based upon each one's research. The second Hadith is a weak Hadith.
Imams Malik, al-Auza'i and Ahmad maintain that it is preferred to place the hands on the floor first and then the knees. Their evidence is the Hadith of Abu Hurairah who reported that the Prophet said: "If one of you prostrate she should not kneel down as a camel. But he should place his hands down before his knees". The scholars of the Hadith confirm that this is a sound Hadith.
Imam Ibn Qayyim said: 'Some of the narrators are not certain about some words of this Hadith since the first part of the Hadith contradicts the last part of the Hadith everyone knows that a camel places its hands before its knees'.
There is another Hadith narrated by Ibn Khuzaimah, al-Daruqutni, al-Hakim and Hakim said that this Hadith is Sound. Imam Zahabi also agreed with him, that the Prophet used to place down his hands before his knees.
Ibn Umar also reports that this was the practice of the Prophet. (It is a sound narration).
No doubt, that the evidences of the second opinion are more authentic. Sheikh Ahmad Shakir and others also confirm that the evidences of second opinion are more correct than other evidences.
Imam Ibn Qayyim said: 'that the Prophet prevented sitting in the way as a camel sits. It is known that a camel when sitting puts its hands first while its legs are still in the raising position. When it raises it raises its legs before its hands. The Prophet has forbidden imitating the ways of many other animals during prayer. He forbade looking here and there as a fox, stretching as a fox stretches, squatting as a dog squats, pecking like a crow, and raising hands at the time of Tasleen like the tails of balky horses and sitting the way a camel sits. So, the actions of praying person are totally different from the manners of animals. Therefore, when the Prophet forbade sitting like a camel that means he actually forbade placing hands before knees'.
Finally, the second opinion is correct if we consider the chain of Hadith and the first opinion is correct regarding the general verdicts of Prayer. But the narrations are always considered as source of Shariah so, we believe that placing hands on floor before knees is more suitable than other practices.
Allah knows best.
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