Discover the meaning of the term Asjd (أسجد) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readAsjada the man: to bow his head and bend. As-sajadah: the cushion; the small rug prayed upon; the mark of prostration on the forehead. As-sajdah: the single occasion of prostration; the rak'ah. In the noble hadith: 'If one of you catches a prostration of the afternoon prayer ('asr) before the sun sets, let him complete his prayer; and if he catches a prostration of the dawn prayer before the sun rises, let him complete his prayer.' Al-Khattabi said: by prostration is meant the rak'ah with its bowing and prostration; the rak'ah attains completion only in its prostration, and it was therefore named: sajdah. As-sujud: stillness and bending; submission and humility. In prayer: placing the forehead on the ground, so named because it is the utmost of humility. In the Noble Quran: 'You see them bowing and prostrating, seeking bounty from Allah and good pleasure; their mark is upon their faces from the effect of prostration' (Al-Fath, 29); the greeting (tahiyyah). In legal terms: a specific posture (al-Fayyumi). In legal terms: placing the forehead on the ground, or on what grows from it, not edible and not worn (al-Najafi). Al-masjad: the man's forehead where the mark of prostration reaches (plural: masajid); the masajid of the human body: the limbs on which one prostrates, namely the forehead, the nose, the two hands, the two knees and the two feet. Al-masjid: every place of worship (plural: masajid); the place of prostration. In the noble hadith: 'The earth has been made for me a mosque and a purifier: whichever man of my community the prayer overtakes, let him pray.' In common usage: the built place of prayer (al-Husayn al-San'ani).