Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > The pillars and conditions of prayer > Iqa', sitting like a dog during the prayer
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Updated on 25 September 2026 at 3:23 PM
This part belongs to the full section: All sections of this part.
This part completes the description of the Prophet's prayer (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): the disliked postures such as iqa' and spreading the arms, the etiquettes of yawning, clothing and the gaze, the choice of places and surfaces for prayer, before moving to what invalidates it: speech, addressing someone with Quranic verses, weeping and laughing. Then come the rules of adding and omitting pillars, and the case of the one who forgets the tashahhud. Each school position is reported with its evidence and classical references.
Among the Arabs, iqa' means pressing the buttocks to the ground, keeping the shins upright and placing the hands on the earth. Abu Ubayda defines it as: a man sitting on his buttocks with his thighs raised, in the manner of the crouching of a dog or a wild beast. Ibn al-Qatta' likewise says that a dog that "crouches" sits on its buttocks raising its thighs, and a man who takes that posture has performed this iqa' (al-Misbah wa-mukhtar as-sihah, entry "qa'i").
Abu Ubayd reports another reading of the hadith scholars: iqa' consists of placing both buttocks on the 2 heels, between the 2 prostrations (at-Tamhid 16/273).
As for the first meaning, the jurists agreed on its disapproval, based on the hadith of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him).
He also forbade me pecking like the pecking of a rooster, and iqa' like the iqa' of a dog.Narrated by Ahmad (2/311); hasan hadith
Added to it is the hadith of Aisha describing the Prophet's prayer (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), in which it says that he forbade "the squatting of the devil" (Muslim 498).
As for iqa' in the second sense, it is also disliked with the Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis; with the Hanafis it is a light disapproval (tanzih).
The Hanbalis support it with what al-Harith reported from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) as a statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Do not squat between the 2 prostrations" (at-Tirmidhi 282; Ibn Majah 894; weak hadith). It is also reported from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) as a statement of the Prophet: "When you raise your head from prostration, do not squat the way a dog squats" (Ibn Majah 899; fabricated hadith). The hadith of Abu Humayd on the Prophet's prayer contains: "Then he bent his left leg and sat on it" (authentic hadith, cited earlier). And the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) mentions that "the Prophet would stretch out his left leg and raise the right, and he forbade the squatting of the devil" (authentic hadith, cited earlier).
As for the Shafi'is, iqa' in this manner between the 2 prostrations is a sunnah. Muslim reports from Tawus that he said: we asked Ibn Abbas about iqa' on the 2 heels, and he said: it is the sunnah. We said to him: we see harshness to the foot in it. Ibn Abbas replied: rather, it is the sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (Muslim 536).
Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) reports that the scholars differed on the ruling of iqa', and its explanation gave rise to many interpretations because of these hadiths. The correct course, unavoidable, is that iqa' is of 2 types. The first: pressing the buttocks to the ground, raising the legs and placing the hands on the ground, like the crouching of a dog. This is how Abu Ubayda Mu'ammar ibn al-Muthanna, his contemporary Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam, and other philologists explained it; this type is the disliked posture for which the prohibition came.
The second type: placing the buttocks on the heels between the 2 prostrations. This is what Ibn Abbas meant by his words "the sunnah of your Prophet". Ash-Shafi'i himself stated that it is recommended in the sitting between the 2 prostrations, and many generations of verifiers have carried Ibn Abbas's hadith on this meaning, among them al-Bayhaqi and the qadi Iyad, may Allah have mercy on them.
The qadi (Iyad) said: it has been reported from a group of the Companions and the early generations that they used to do it; and it has come, explained, from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): "It is of the sunnah that your heels touch your buttocks." This is the correct interpretation of Ibn Abbas's hadith. We mentioned that ash-Shafi'i stated its recommendation in the sitting between the 2 prostrations, and he has another saying, the more famous: the sunnah there is iftirash, the laid-back sitting; the upshot is that they are 2 sunnahs, and which of them is better has 2 opinions. As for the sitting of the first tashahhud and the sitting of rest, their sunnah is iftirash; and the sitting of the final tashahhud, its sunnah is tawarruk, the tucked sitting (Sharh Muslim 4/192; Ma'ani al-Athar 2/79; Ibn Abidin 1/643; Hashiyat at-Tahtawi 1/236; al-Mudawwana 1/73; at-Tamhid 16/273 ff.; at-Taj wa-l-iklil 1/550; adh-Dhakhira 2/191; Mughni al-muhtaj 1/154; Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/371; al-Mughni 2/77; Bidayat al-mujtahid 1/197; al-Majmu' 3/400).
The one pressed by a need who prays in that state does so preserving the sanctity of the time, and it is not permissible for him to delay the prayer. If he prays in that state while the time is still ample, he commits a disliked act, but his prayer is valid according to us and the majority; it is however recommended that he repeat it, without obligation (Sharh Muslim 5/41).
Ibn al-Qasim nevertheless transmitted from Malik that the prayer of the haqin is corrupt, and that he must repeat it within the time and after it.
Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: they agreed that if someone prays in the presence of food and completes his prayer without omitting anything of its obligations, his prayer suffices him; likewise the one who prays it in that state of compulsion and completes his prayer. This is evidence that the prohibition of praying in the presence of food is due to the fear that the praying person's mind be seized by the food away from the prayer; if he establishes it within its limits, the feared meaning departs and his prayer suffices him (al-Istidhkar 2/297; at-Tamhid 22/206).
At-Tahawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: they do not differ that if one's heart was occupied by some worldly matter, repeating is not recommended for him; likewise if he was occupied by the need to urinate (Bidayat al-mujtahid 2/254; Sharh Fath al-Qadir 1/418; al-Bahr ar-ra'iq 2/35; Tabyin al-haqa'iq 1/114; al-Qawanin al-fiqhiyya 1/39; al-Mudawwana 1/34-35; al-Majmu' 4/36; al-Mughni 2/182).
The majority of jurists, the Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis, dislike prostration on the fold of the turban overall, and they conditioned the disapproval on the prostration being on the fold without an excuse of heat, cold or illness. Al-Buhuti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: so as to leave the disagreement and adopt the firmer course.
The evidence is the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him).
We used to pray with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in intense heat; when one of us could not put his face on the ground, he would spread his garment and prostrate on it.Narrated by al-Bukhari 1150 and Muslim 620
Al-Bukhari cites in his Sahih al-Hasan's words: "the people used to prostrate on the turban and the helmet" (al-Bukhari 1/151). That establishes validity; it was disliked only because it abandons the utmost glorification, and because the forehead is one of the limbs of prostration, so prostrating on its barrier is permitted, as with the 2 feet.
The Hanafis' disapproval is light (tanzih). They stipulated for the validity of prostration on the fold that it be on the forehead or part of it. If the fold is on the head only, and he prostrates on it without his forehead reaching the ground, on the view of its being required, nor his nose on the view that it is not required, then the prayer is not valid, for want of prostration in its place. The scholar Ibn Amir al-Hajj said: many common people are lax in this, thinking it permissible.
The Malikis say: if the fold of the turban is one or 2 wraps, like the garments that cover the knees and feet, there is no harm; if the fold exceeds 2 wraps so that the forehead is prevented from touching the ground, he repeats the prayer within the time, as ad-Dusuqi says; and if the fold is above the forehead and prevents the forehead from touching the ground, his prayer is void.
By "wraps" (taqat) in their words they mean the windings and bands; they gave as an example of the fine wrap the delicate sheer shawl.
The Malikis and Hanbalis attached to the fold of the turban everything connected to the worshipper other than the limbs of prostration, such as the edge of his sleeve or his garment. The Hanafis explicitly permitted that if the place prostrated upon is pure, otherwise not (Ma'ani al-Athar 2/62-63; al-Bahr 1/337-338; Ibn Abidin 1/500; at-Tahtawi 1/240; Tuhfat al-fuqaha 1/135; Hashiyat ad-Dusuqi 1/253; Bulghat as-salik 1/225; al-Mudawwana 1/74; Mawahib al-jalil 1/547; adh-Dhakhira 2/196; al-Adawi 1/338; Mukhtasar ikhtilaf al-ulama 1/232; al-Mughni 2/69-71; Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/352-353; al-Insaf 2/68; Sharh Muslim 5/105; al-Ifsah 1/170).
The qadi Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: he may prostrate on the wraps of the turban without uncovering his forehead, contrary to ash-Shafi'i; because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "prostrate until you are at rest" without qualifying, and because the forehead is one of the limbs of prostration: the presence of a barrier between it and the ground does not negate its essence, whose origin is the 2 knees; and because he placed his forehead from the ground, which is closer to direct contact (al-Ishraf ala nukat masa'il al-khilaf 1/279-280).
As for the Shafi'is, an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: if a barrier connected to him prevents the forehead, and he prostrates on his palm, the fold of his turban, the edge of his sleeve or his turban, these 2 moving with his movement in standing and sitting, or other than them, his prayer is not valid without dispute among us, because it is attributed to him. The evidence is what Khabbab ibn al-Aratt (may Allah be pleased with him) reported.
We complained to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the scorching of the ground, but he did not sympathize with us.Narrated by Muslim 619; in al-Bayhaqi's version: "on our foreheads and our palms"
Had the worshipper's direct contact with the forehead not been required, he would have directed them to cover it. If he prostrates on the end of his turban, his sleeve, or the edge of a very long turban that does not move with his movement, 2 views: the correct one is that his prayer is valid, for this end is like something separate; the other: it is not valid, as if there were filth on that end, even if it does not move with his movement.
All of this is when leaving direct contact has no excuse. If there is a wound on his forehead that he bandages, and he prostrates on the bandage, that suffices him and his prayer is valid, with no repetition upon him; for if repetition drops with a gesture of the head due to excuse, here it is more deserving still. Its permissibility is conditioned on removing the bandage causing severe hardship. If he ties on his forehead a split bandage, out of need or not, and prostrates touching the ground between its 2 parts with his forehead, that suffices him to that extent; likewise if he prostrates while a torn garment is on his forehead and his forehead touches the ground through it. That is stated explicitly in "al-Umm" and agreed upon; and if he prostrates on the fold of his turban, his sleeve or the like without a valid excuse, his prayer is void.
If one prostrates on it deliberately while knowing its prohibition, his prayer is void; if forgetful, it is not void, but he must repeat the prostration (al-Majmu' 3/383-384; Kifayat al-akhyar 151; Mughni al-muhtaj 1/168).
The jurists differed on the obligation of uncovering the hands in prostration: is it required or recommended? The majority of jurists, the Hanafis, the Malikis, the Shafi'is in the sounder view, and the Hanbalis, hold that he is not required to uncover his hands in prostration, based on the hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him).
We used to pray with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in intense heat; when one of us could not put his face on the ground, he would spread his garment and prostrate on it.Narrated by al-Bukhari 1150 and Muslim 620
It is reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) "prayed in a single garment, wrapping himself in it to protect his skin from the heat and cold of the ground" (weak hadith: Ahmad in his Musnad 1/303, 320, 354; Ibn Abi Shayba 1/241; Abu Ya'la 4/450). Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "the Companions of the Prophet used to prostrate with their hands in their garments"; al-Bukhari cited it suspended (1/151) and al-Bayhaqi connected it (2/106), saying: this is the soundest on prostration on the turban, in mawquf form. It is also by analogy to the rest of the limbs of prostration (Tabyin al-haqa'iq 1/117; al-Hidaya 1/50; Hashiyat al-Adawi 1/338-339; al-Kafi 1/42; al-Mudawwana 1/74; al-Majmu' 3/386, 389; Sharh Muslim 5/105; Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/423; al-Ifsah 1/170).
Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the evidence is the agreement of all that the worshipper prostrates on his 2 knees, covered by his garments, which are part of the limbs on which prostration is commanded; likewise the rest of his limbs, except what they agreed upon: uncovering the face (al-Istidhkar 2/307).
The qadi Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: uncovering his hands in prostration is not required of him, contrary to one of ash-Shafi'i's 2 views; because he is named "a settled prostrator" (mutamakkin), so it is more apt if he uncovers (al-Ishraf ala nukat masa'il al-khilaf 1/279-280).
The Shafi'is however held in one view the obligation of uncovering the hands. An-Nawawi said: on the obligation of uncovering the hands there are 2 views: the correct one is that it is not required, and this is explicit in most of ash-Shafi'i's books, as the author mentioned; the other: it is required to uncover the least part of the inner side of each palm, and Allah knows best (al-Majmu' 3/386, 389; Sharh Muslim 5/105).
The jurists agreed on disapproving of yawning in the prayer and outside it, and it is severer within the prayer. Yawning is the expiration that opens the mouth to repel vapours; it arises from a full stomach and the heaviness of the body. In the 2 Sahihs is the hadith of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
Yawning is from the devil; when one of you yawns, let him suppress it as much as he can.Narrated by al-Bukhari 3289, Muslim 2994 and at-Tirmidhi 368
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
When one of you yawns during the prayer, let him hold it back as much as he can; for the devil enters.Narrated by Muslim 2995
The etiquette is to suppress it as much as possible, that is, to push it back and hold it, according to what has been reported; if he cannot, let him place his hand or his sleeve over his mouth. The placing of the hand is established in the Sahih of Muslim, and placing the sleeve is by analogy to it.
In a version: "Sneezing is from Allah and yawning is from the devil; when one of you yawns, let him place his hand over his mouth; and when he says ah, ah, the devil laughs at him from within; Allah loves sneezing and dislikes yawning. When a man says ah, ah as he yawns, the devil laughs inside him" (at-Tirmidhi 2746; hasan sahih hadith).
His words "He loves sneezing and dislikes yawning" are because sneezing occurs only with open pores, a light body and ease of movement, causes fostered by light food, moderation in eating and contentment with little; while yawning occurs only with bodily heaviness, fullness, slackness toward sleep and a leaning to laziness. Sneezing thus becomes praised, as it aids obedience, and yawning blamed, as it deters from it and makes one sluggish for good deeds (Jami' al-usul 6/623-624).
Ibn al-Arabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: yawning ought to be suppressed in every state; the prayer alone was specified because it is the most deserving of states that it be repelled, given what it entails of leaving the dignity of bearing and the distortion of form.
Al-Hafiz said: as for his words in Abu Sa'id's version reported by Ibn Majah "and let him not howl", he compared the yawning that escapes to the howling of a dog, to deter from it and condemn it; for the dog raises its head, opens its mouth and howls, and whoever exaggerates in yawning resembles it. From here appears the subtlety of the devil laughing at him: he made him his plaything by disfiguring his form in that state.
As for his words in Muslim's version "for the devil enters", 2 readings are possible: literal entry, and it may be that he courses through man like blood, unable to master him as long as he remembers Allah; the one who yawns in that state is not remembering, so the devil can enter him literally. Or entry is stated meaning mastery; for one who enters a thing masters it. As for the command to place the hand over the mouth, it covers both the mouth opened by yawning, covered by the palm or the like, and the closed mouth, guarding it from opening. In place of the hand over the mouth stands the garment and the like that achieves the aim; the hand becomes required only if the yawn cannot be repelled without it. There is no difference in this between the worshipper and anyone else, though it is confirmed in the state of prayer (Fath al-Bari 10/612; Bada'i' as-sana'i' 1/215-216; Sharh Muslim 18/122; Umdat al-qari 22/228; al-Kafi 1/173; Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/373; al-Majmu' 4/110; al-Bahr ar-ra'iq 2/27; al-Ifsah 1/194).
The jurists of the 4 schools agreed on disapproving the recitation of the Quran in bowing, prostration and the tashahhud, based on what Muslim reports from Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him).
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade me from reciting while bowing or prostrating.Narrated by Muslim 480
And from his words (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
I am forbidden to recite the Quran while bowing or prostrating. In bowing, glorify the Lord; and in prostration, strive in supplication, for it is deserving that you be answered.Narrated by Muslim 479
The word "qamin" means: deserving, fitting.
Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "they agreed that bowing is a place of magnifying Allah through glorification, sanctification and the like of remembrance, and that it is not a place of recitation" (at-Tamhid 16/118; al-Istidhkar 1/431).
Al-Khattabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: since bowing and prostration, the height of lowliness and humility, are specifically for remembrance and glorification, recitation in them was forbidden (Awn al-ma'bud 3/91).
Imam Ibn Rushd (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the majority agreed on preventing the recitation of the Quran in bowing and prostration, based on the hadith of Ali: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Jibril forbade me from reciting the Quran while bowing or prostrating." At-Tabari said: it is an authentic hadith, and the jurists of the cities took it.
A group of the Successors came to its permissibility, and it is the school of al-Bukhari, for the hadith was not authentic in his view; and Allah knows best (Bidayat al-mujtahid 1/182).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "in his prohibition (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) of reciting the Quran in bowing and prostration is proof that the Quran is the noblest of speech, for it is the speech of Allah; and the state of bowing and prostration is lowliness and humbling of the slave: it is therefore from the etiquette to prevent the speech of Allah from being recited in these 2 states" (al-Fatawa al-kubra 4/422).
Imam al-Qarafi (may Allah have mercy on him) states a rule: Allah is free of need of His creation absolutely; obedience does not benefit Him and disobedience does not harm Him; but He commanded us to manifest humility and submission to His majesty in states customarily designated for that, like bowing and prostration, hastening to commands and distancing from prohibitions, and to observe etiquette with Him in the states that ordinarily require it. That is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Be shy before Allah as you would be shy before a righteous elder of your people" (authentic hadith: Ahmad in az-Zuhd 46; al-Bayhaqi in ash-Shu'ab 2/262; al-Khara'iti in Makarim al-akhlaq 50).
Common usage among magnates and kings is that praise precedes asking for needs, so that their souls open to grant them; Allah therefore commanded us to precede supplication with praise, as Umayya ibn Abi as-Salt said: "Do I mention my need when you have sufficed me? Your modesty is indeed your noblest trait; when a man praises you one day, his mere allusion to your praise suffices him; he is generous, whom neither morning nor evening turns from fair character."
Supplication in prostration thus has 2 aspects: this is one. The other: prostration is the height of states of lowliness and submission, placing the noblest part of man, his head, in the dust, so that he may not be turned away from his aim and may attain his request (adh-Dhakhira 2/189; see Ibn Abidin 1/523; at-Tahawi 1/190; Bidayat al-mujtahid 1/182; al-Majmu' 3/372; Sharh Muslim 4/177; al-Mughni 2/55).
Ibn al-Malik said: "as if His wisdom were that the best of the pillars of the prayer is standing, and the best of invocations is the Quran: so the best was given to the best, and placing it elsewhere was forbidden, lest it be suggested that it equals the rest of the invocations."
It is also said: recitation was specified to standing or sitting when unable, for they are ordinary acts, apt for worship, unlike bowing and prostration which, in themselves, oppose custom and signify humility and worship. It may also be said: bowing and prostration are 2 states signifying lowliness, suited to supplication and glorification; so recitation in them is forbidden, in magnification of the noble Quran and in honour of its reciter, who stands in the place of the one who speaks to his Lord; and Allah knows all things (Awn al-ma'bud 3/91).
The jurists agreed on disapproving of spreading one's arms at the moment of prostration; rather he should place his palms on the ground and raise his elbows from the ground and his sides, markedly, so that the inner sides of the armpits show if they are not covered. This is an etiquette whose desirability is agreed: whoever leaves it errs, committing what is forbidden.
The prohibition is of mere disapproval, and his prayer is valid, according to what the 2 shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) report from the hadith of Anas as a statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
Be even in prostration, and let none of you spread his arms the way a dog spreads them.Narrated by al-Bukhari 788 and Muslim 493; in a version of Muslim: "and let none of you spread his arms like the dog"
That means: not stretching them on the ground in the prayer, for it is disliked, as a sign of laxity and of little care for the prayer (Sharh Muslim 4/188; al-Majmu' 3/392; Asna al-matalib 1/162; al-Mubdi' 1/477; az-Zarkashi's commentary 1/183; Fayd al-qadir 1/553; Umdat al-qari 6/97; Fath al-Bari 2/302; Nayl al-awtar 2/285).
Imam Ibn Battal (may Allah have mercy on him) relates that at-Tabari said: it is incumbent on the worshipper to keep away from his sides, raise his chest from the ground and not spread his arms; and if one spreads them his prayer is not thereby invalidated. He also mentions what Ibn Sinan reported from Abu Asim, from Ibn Jurayj, from Nafi': Ibn Omar used to pray holding his arms against his sides. He was answered: that is permitted; Ibn Omar only did so when the people crowded and the place was narrow so that he could not keep apart; for what is known of him is what Abu Kurayb reported: Adam ibn Ali said: I prayed beside Ibn Omar and spread my arms; he said to me: "do not spread them the way a wild beast does; support yourself on your palms and show your armpits; when you do that, every limb of you prostrates." Since both reports came from Ibn Omar, each must be directed to what is most fitting and closest to the sunnah. It was mentioned earlier, in the chapter on "showing the armpits and keeping apart in prostration", that none of the scholars requires repetition of one who leaves that, because of the disagreement of the early generations (Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari 2/436-437).
The 2 shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) report from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) as a statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
I have been commanded to prostrate on 7 bones, and not to fold back garment or hair.Narrated by al-Bukhari 776 and Muslim 490; the wording is Muslim's
Muslim reports from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he saw Abdallah ibn al-Harith praying with his hair braided behind his head; he rose and began undoing it. When he finished, Ibn Abbas said to him: what is with your head? He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:
The likeness of this is the likeness of one who prays with his hands bound.Narrated by Muslim 492
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the scholars agreed on forbidding praying with one's garment rolled up, or one's sleeve or the like, or one's head braided, or one's hair gathered under the turban, or the like; all of this is forbidden by the agreement of the scholars, as a light disapproval. If he prays so, he has done wrong and his prayer is valid. Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari argued it with the consensus of the scholars, and Ibn al-Mundhir reported repetition of it from al-Hasan al-Basri; the rest of the majority hold the prohibition general for whoever prays so, whether he did it for the prayer or was in that state before it, for another reason.
Ad-Dawudi said: that is specific to one who does it for the prayer; but the chosen, correct view is the first, which is the apparent report of the Companions and others. The deed of Ibn Abbas mentioned here confirms it.
The scholars said: the wisdom in the prohibition is that the hair prostrates with him; hence he likened him to one who prays with his hands bound.
His words "Ibn Abbas saw Abdallah ibn al-Harith praying with his head braided behind his head, so he rose and began undoing it" contain enjoining good and forbidding wrong, and that it must not be deferred, since Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) did not defer it until the end of the prayer. And the disliked is to be rebuked as the forbidden is, per the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri; and the report of a single narrator is accepted; and Allah knows best (Sharh Muslim 4/186-187).
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "it was said: the wisdom in it is that if he lifts his garment and hair from touching the ground, he resembles the arrogant" (Fath al-Bari 2/296).
The jurists hold that the sick person, if unable to prostrate with his forehead, prostrates as best he can with what he can, and is not required to raise an object to prostrate on; for prostration is a descent that is not attained by elevation. If he cannot place his forehead due to an ailment or otherwise, prostration drops and the gesture of the head is incumbent on him.
Al-Kasani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: if he raises before his face a cushion or something to prostrate on, without a gesture of the head, it is not permitted; for what is due to him is the gesture, which was not realized, and it is disliked for him to do so (Bada'i' as-sana'i' 1/108). The evidence is what Ibn Omar reported: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) visited a sick Companion while I was with him; he entered and found him praying on a stick, his forehead on it; he gestured to him, so he threw away the stick and took a cushion. The Messenger of Allah said to him:
Leave it; if you can prostrate on the ground, do so, otherwise gesture with your head and make your prostration lower than your bowing.Narrated by at-Tabarani in al-Kabir (12/270); authentic hadith, with the support of the hadith of Jabir at al-Bayhaqi (2/306) and al-Bazzar (1/275); al-Hafiz says in Bulugh al-maram (1/67) that Abu Hatim authenticated the mawquf version
It is reported that Ibn Mas'ud entered upon his brother to visit him and found him praying, raising a stick on which to prostrate; he pulled it from his hand and said: "this is a thing the devil presented to you; bow in your prostration" (at-Tabarani in al-Kabir 9/278; Ibn Abi Shayba 1/246; al-Haythami in al-Majma' 2/149: at-Tabarani reported it in al-Kabir and its men are trustworthy).
Salim ibn Abdallah ibn Omar reports from his father that he forbade the sick to pray on a stick, and said:
Whoever cannot prostrate, let him gesture with his head.Narrated by Malik in the Muwatta (280) in the version of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, and at-Tabarani in Musnad ach-Chamiyin (4/236) with an authentic chain
Jabala ibn Suhaym said: I asked Ibn Omar about the prayer of the sick on a stick; he said: "I do not command you to take idols besides Allah; if you can pray standing, do so, otherwise sitting, otherwise lying down" (Ibn Abi Shayba in al-Musannaf 1/245, with an authentic chain).
Al-Kasani said: if he does so, it is considered whether he lowers his head somewhat for bowing and then for prostration until his forehead touches: that is permitted, as a gesture of the head, not a prostration on that thing. If the cushion is placed on the ground and he prostrates on it, his prayer is valid, per what was reported: "Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), used to prostrate on an armrest (mirfaqa) due to an ophthalmia" (Ibn Abi Shayba in al-Musannaf 2/477; Ibn al-Mundhir in al-Awsat 2271-2273; hasan hadith).
Imam Malik said: "when the sick man cannot prostrate on the ground, let him gesture with his back and head, and let him not raise before his forehead, nor set before him, anything to prostrate on; if he does, he does not repeat."
Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Malik said: if he cannot prostrate, he raises nothing before his forehead, nor sets before himself a cushion or anything. Abu Thawr used to say: and if the sick man prays sitting and cannot prostrate, he gestures; and if he raises something and prostrates on it, that suffices him; but the gesture is dearer to me.
A group said: he raises nothing before him to prostrate on; and if he places a cushion on the ground and prostrates on it, that suffices him, Allah willing; this is ash-Shafi'i's view. We have reported from Umm Salama that she prostrated on an armrest due to an ophthalmia; from Ibn Abbas that he permitted prostration on the visible armrest; and from Anas that when he fell ill he prostrated on an armrest.
The chains gathered in al-Awsat of Ibn al-Mundhir (numbers 2271 to 2277) detail these reports: Umm al-Hasan said she saw Umm Salama, wife of the Prophet, prostrating on an armrest due to an ophthalmia (2271), due to pain in her eye (2272), or on a leather cushion (2273); Abu Fazara as-Sulami asked Ibn Abbas about the sick person prostrating on the visible armrest and he said there is no harm (2274); Ibn Abbas said there is no harm in the sick person wrapping a garment and prostrating on it (2275); a cushion topped with a board was set for Hudhayfa and he used to pray and prostrate on it (2276); Anas, when ill, prostrated on an armrest (2277).
Ahmad said, regarding the sick person prostrating on something raised to his forehead: I prefer that he not raise it; if he does, there is no harm; and prostrating on the armrest is dearer to me than gesturing with the head, per the hadith of Umm Salama and that of Ibn Abbas. Ishaq said likewise. Among the people of opinion, prostration on a cushion or armrest placed on the ground suffices.
Abu Bakr (al-Jassas) said: the sick person prays according to his strength. If he prays sitting, unable to stand, and can bow and prostrate, it does not suffice him unless he does so to the extent he can. If he cannot prostrate, let him gesture with his head, reaching by the gesture the utmost he can; if he reaches that utmost and then a stick or pillow is raised to him and his forehead touches it after reaching what he could of the gesture, nothing is upon him and it suffices him: he made the gesture to his capacity, and meeting the stick or pillow does not harm him, from what his forehead touched in that state. If he falls short of the possible gesture and raises a stick or the like to his forehead, it does not suffice him; but prostration on the pillow suffices him, even though prostration on the ground is possible for him: I dislike that, and I liken his prostration on the pillow to his prostration on a mound of earth; and when his prostration and bowing are gestures, he makes the prostration lower than the bowing (al-Awsat of Ibn al-Mundhir 7/179, 187; Muwatta Malik, version of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan 1/95; al-Istidhkar 2/335; Ma'ani al-Athar 1/352; al-Mabsut 1/217; al-Hidaya 1/77; al-Bahr ar-ra'iq 2/123; Ibn Abidin 2/98; at-Taj wa-l-iklil 1/546; adh-Dhakhira 2/194; ath-Thamar ad-dani 1/206; al-Mughni 2/67; al-Mubdi' 1/454).
The places where prayer is disliked are 7:
These 7 appear in the hadith of Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them both) as a statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), a weak hadith (at-Tirmidhi 346; Ibn Majah 746), and some of its wordings have supports, among them his words:
The whole earth is a mosque, except the grave and the bath.Narrated by at-Tirmidhi 317 and Ibn Majah 745; authentic hadith
And his words:
When the prayer comes and you are in the sheep pens, pray; and when it comes and you are in the resting places of the camels, do not pray.Narrated by at-Tirmidhi 348, Ibn Majah 768, Ahmad (5/54) and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (1702); authentic hadith
He gave the reason saying: "for it was created of the devils", that is: do you not see its eyes and its gait when it startles (Ahmad 5/55; hasan hadith). Ibn Hibban explains that these words intend that devils accompany it, by proximity, not its literal creation.
The scholars differed over these places where prayer is forbidden: is the prayer of one who prays there void or not?
Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him) said: prayer in all these places is disliked, but if one prays there it is valid, except the roof of the Sacred House of Allah: prayer on its roof is valid absolutely, without disapproval.
Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: prayer in these places is valid if they are pure, while disliked, for filth is rarely absent from them generally; except the roof of the Sacred House of Allah: prayer upon it, in his view, is corrupt, for by it one turns away from part of that toward which one was commanded to face.
Ash-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: prayer in these places, other than the roof of the Sacred House of Allah and the graveyard, is valid with disapproval. As for the roof of the Sacred House of Allah: if before the worshipper is a screen connected to the building, the prayer is valid without disapproval; if not, the prayer is not valid. As for the graveyard: if it is dug up, repeatedly disturbed, prayer in it is not valid; if it is not, it is disliked and the prayer suffices.
From Ahmad, 3 versions: the famous one is that it is void absolutely; the second: it is valid with disapproval; the third: if he knows the prohibition he repeats, and if he does not know he does not repeat (al-Ifsah 1/195).
Ibn Rushd (may Allah have mercy on him), after citing the disagreement, said: the cause of their difference is the conflict of the apparent meanings of the reports in this chapter. Here there are 2 hadiths agreed upon as authentic, and 2 contested ones. As for the 2 authentic: his words (peace and blessings be upon him): "I was given 5 things none before me was given", among them: "the earth was made for me a mosque and a means of purification; whichever man of my community the prayer overtakes, let him pray" (al-Bukhari 328); and his words: "Make some of your prayers in your houses and do not make them graves" (al-Bukhari 422; Muslim 777).
As for the other 2: one is what was reported that he (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying in 7 places: "the refuse dump, the grave...", a weak hadith cited earlier; the other: his words: "Pray in the sheep pens, and do not pray in the resting places of the camels", an authentic hadith cited earlier.
The people followed 3 schools on these hadiths: the school of preference and abrogation; the school of specification, that is, specifying the general by the specific; and the school of reconciliation. Whoever followed preference and abrogation took the famous hadith: "the earth was made for me a mosque and a means of purification", saying: it abrogates the others, for these are privileges of his community that cannot be abrogated.
Whoever followed specification of the specific over the general said: the hadith of permission is general, the hadith of prohibition specific: the specific must be specified over the general. Among them are those who excepted the 7 places; those who excepted the bath and the grave, saying that is what is established from the Prophet, since the prohibition of each alone was also reported; and those who excepted the grave alone, per the earlier hadith.
As for those who follow reconciliation without excepting a specific from the general, they carry the hadiths of prohibition on disapproval, and the first view is permissibility. Such are the 3 imams, and Ahmad in one version (Bidayat al-mujtahid 1/68, 169; Ma'ani al-Athar 1/371; Ibn Abidin 1/418; al-Mudawwana 1/90; al-Fawa'id ad-dawani 1/128; Rawdat at-talibin 1/277; Mughni al-muhtaj 1/203; Tarh at-tathrib 2/98; Umdat al-qari 4/190; Ahkam al-Qur'an of Ibn al-Arabi 3/110; Tafsir al-Qurtubi 1/48, 51; Mukhtasar al-khilafiyyat of al-Bayhaqi 2/185; at-Tahqiq of Ibn al-Jawzi 1/299; al-Mughni 2/263-264).
The scholars agreed, as an-Nawawi reports, that prayer on usurped land is forbidden. They differed over its validity: Abu Hanifa, Malik, ash-Shafi'i and Ahmad in one version hold it valid; for the prohibition does not return to the prayer itself and does not prevent its validity, as if one prayed while seeing a drowning man he could save yet not saving him, a fire he could extinguish yet not extinguishing it, or a creditor he could pay yet leaving unpaid, and then prayed (Ibn Abidin 1/381; al-Mabsut 6/57; al-Muhadhdhab 1/64; al-Majmu' 3/165; al-Mughni 2/269; Manar as-sabil 1/95; Nayl al-awtar 2/144, 7/368; Tafsir al-Qurtubi 18/108; Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil 1/224).
Imam Ahmad in the famous version from him, which Ibn Qudama reports as a view of ash-Shafi'i and which is the view of some Khurasanis among his companions, holds it invalid; for prayer is an act of worship received according to a prescribed way, and praying on usurped land does not realize it, like the prayer of the menstruating woman or her fast. The prohibition entails the sinfulness of the act, avoiding it and incurring sin by doing it: how can he be obedient by that by which he disobeys, compliant by what is forbidden to him, drawing near by what drives far? His movements and stillnesses, of standing, bowing and prostrating, are voluntary acts by which he disobeys, forbidden acts he commits.
This principle established, there is no difference between usurping ownership of land by taking it or claiming it, and usurping its uses by falsely claiming its lease, placing his hand on it to dwell for a while, building a loft or an apartment in a place not lawful to him, usurping a mount and praying on it, or a ship and praying in it, or a board placed in a ship on which he prays: all of that follows, in prayer, the ruling of the usurped house.
Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the Friday prayer is valid in a usurped place: if the congregational mosque, or part of its site, is usurped, the prayer in it is valid; for Friday is specified by a site: if the imam prays it in the usurped place and the people cannot pray elsewhere, Friday reaches them; likewise whoever is prevented from it. That is why it was permitted behind the Kharijites and innovators, and valid on roads due to the need of them; likewise the festivals and the funeral prayer (al-Mughni 2/269; Manar as-sabil 1/95).
Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: prayer on usurped land is forbidden by consensus, and valid according to us and the majority of jurists and usulists. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Jubbai and other Mu'tazilites say it is void, and the usulists refuted them by the consensus of those before them.
Al-Ghazali says in al-Mustasfa: this question is certain, not a matter of ijtihad, and the one who is right is unique. Whoever holds it valid takes it from consensus, which is certain; whoever holds it void takes it from the contradiction between nearness to Allah and disobedience, claiming that such a combination is rationally impossible. The question is thus certain: whoever validates it says: he is disobedient in one respect, drawing near in another; there is no impossibility in that. The impossibility would be drawing near to Allah by the very act by which he disobeys.
The qadi Abu Bakr al-Baqillani said: the obligation falls by this prayer, not properly by it: the proof is the consensus on the falling of the obligation when one prays (al-Majmu' 3/165-166).
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: prayer on usurped land discharges the obligation, but there is no reward in it: thus said the majority of our companions. They said: the obligatory prayer and other duties, performed in their complete form, entail 2 things: the falling of the obligation and the obtaining of reward; performed on usurped land, the first is obtained without the second (Sharh Muslim 14/227).
The Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is and Ahmad in one version dislike prayer in churches and synagogues. Their reasons: these are places of disbelief and association, more deserving of disapproval than the bath, the grave and the refuse dump; they are places of wrath; and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) "forbade prayer on the land of Babylon, saying that it is cursed" (Abu Dawud 490; weak hadith). He founded the prohibition on the curse, and their churches are places of curse and displeasure upon which wrath descends; as some Companions said: "avoid the Jews and Christians in their festivals, for displeasure descends upon them." And because they are houses of Allah's enemies, and Allah is not worshipped in the houses of His enemies.
From Ahmad, a second version: they are not disliked if pure, for they fall under his words (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "the earth was made for me a mosque and a means of purification"; in a wording: "wherever the prayer overtakes you, pray, for it is a mosque"; in another, agreed upon: "wherever the prayer overtakes you, pray, for it is a mosque". And because Companions prayed in them while they are pure (Ibn al-Mundhir in al-Awsat 2/193: Abu Musa prayed in a church; Ibn Abbas is reported to have permitted prayer in churches facing the qibla). They are part of the Muslims' property: the pagan's association does not harm the worshipper; the association is in them, while the Muslim unifies: his is the gain, the pagan's the loss.
From Ahmad a third version: distinguishing churches and synagogues containing images, in which prayer is disliked, from those without, in which it is not.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: this is the apparent of the school, and it is reported from Omar and Abu Musa. The reason: images face the worshipper and confront him; they are like idols, though not embodied: they are the emblem of disbelief and the refuge of the devil. The jurists disliked prayer on carpets and mats with images, as the companions of Abu Hanifa and of Ahmad stated; they are trodden by feet: what then of walls and ceilings? (Hashiyat at-Tahtawi 1/242; Umdat al-qari 4/192; al-Mudawwana 1/901; Kifayat at-talib 1/211; al-Kafi of Ibn Abd al-Barr 1/65; al-Awsat 2/193-194; Asna al-matalib 1/174; al-Mughni 2/270; Bidayat al-mujtahid 1/169; Majmu' al-fatawa 22/162; Ahkam ahl adh-dhimma of Ibn al-Qayyim 3/1230, 1233).