Next,
"he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would
say takbeer and go down into sajdah"78,
and he ordered "the one who prayed badly"
to do so, saying to him, No one's prayer
is complete unless ... he says: Allaah
listens to the one who praises Him and
stands up straight, then says: Allaah is
the Greatest and prostrates such that his
joints are at rest.79
Also, "when he wanted to perform sajdah,
he would say takbeer, [separate his hands
from his sides,] and then perform sajdah."80
Sometimes, "he would raise his hands
when performing sajdah."81
"He
used to place his hands on the ground before
his knees."82
He used to instruct likewise, saying,
When one of you performs sajdah, he should
not kneel like a camel, but should place
his hands before his knees.83
He also used to say, Verily, the hands
prostrate as the face prostrates, so
when one of you places his face (on the
ground), he should place his hands, and
when he raises it, he should raise them.84
"He
would support himself on his palms [and
spread them]"85,
"put his fingers together"86,
and "point them towards the qiblah."87
Also, "he would put them (his palms)
level with his shoulders"88,
and sometimes "level with his ears"89.
"He would put his nose and forehead firmly
on the ground."90
He said to "the one who prayed badly",
When you prostrate, then be firm in
your prostration91;
in one narration: When you prostrate,
put your face and hands down firmly,
until all of your bones are relaxed in
their proper places.92
He also used to say, "There is no
prayer for the one whose nose does not
feel as much of the ground as the forehead."93
"He
used to put his knees and toes down firmly"94,
"point with the front of the toes towards
the qiblah"95,
"put his heels together"96,
"keep his feet upright"97,
and "ordered likewise."98
Hence, these are the seven limbs on which
he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would
prostrate: the palms, the knees, the
feet, and the forehead and nose - counting
the last two as one limb in prostration,
as he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
said: I have been ordered to prostrate
(in one narration: we have been ordered
to prostrate) on seven bones: on the
forehead ..., and he indicated by
moving his hand99
around his nose, the hands (in
one version: the palms), the
knees and the toes, and not to tuck up100
the garments and hair.101
He also used to say, When a slave
prostrates, seven limbs prostrate with
him: his face, his palms, his knees and
his feet.102
He said about a man who was praying with
his hair tied103
behind him, His example is surely
like that of someone who prays with his
hands bound (behind his back).104
He also said, That is the saddle of
the devil, i.e. where the devil sits,
referring to the knots in the hair.105
"He
would not rest his fore-arms on the ground"106,
but "would raise them above the ground,
and keep them away from his sides such
that the whiteness of his armpits could
be seen from behind"107,
and also "such that if a small lamb or
kid wanted to pass under his arms, it
would have been able to do so."108
He would do this to such an extent that
one of his Companions said, "We used
to feel sorry for the Messenger of Allaah
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) because
of the way he kept his hands away from
his sides."109
He used to order likewise, saying, When
you perform sajdah, place your palms
(on the ground) and raise your elbows110,
and Be level in sujood, and none of
you should spread his fore- arms like
the spreading of a dog (in one narration:
like a dog spreads them)111.
In a separate hadeeth, None of you
should rest arms on the ground the way
a dog rests them.112
He also used to say, Do not spread
your arms [the way a beast of prey does],
rest on your palms and keep your upper
arms apart, for when you do all that,
every one of your limbs prostrates with
you.113
He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used to
command the completion of rukoo' and sujood,
comparing someone not doing so to the hungry
man who eats one or two dates, which are
of no use to him, and also saying about
him, he is indeed one of the worst thieves
among the people.
He also ruled that the prayer of one
who does not straighten his spine fully
in rukoo' and sujood is invalid, as has
been mentioned under "Rukoo'", and ordered
"the one who prayed badly" to be at ease
in his sujood, as mentioned before.
He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would say
any one of the following remembrances of
Allaah and supplications in this posture:
-
How Perfect is my Lord, the Most
High, three times.114
Sometimes, "he would repeat it more
times than that."115
Once, he repeated it so much that his
sujood were nearly as long as his standing,
in which he had recited three of the
Long Soorahs: al-Baqarah, an-Nisaa'
and aal-'Imraan. That prayer was full
of supplication and seeking of forgiveness,
as mentioned before under "Night Prayer".
-
How Perfect is my Lord, the Most
High, and Praised be He, three
times.116
-
Perfect, Blessed, Lord of the Angels
and the Spirit.117
-
How perfect You are O Allaah, our
Lord, and Praised. O Allaah! Forgive
me, which he would say often in
his rukoo' and sujood, implementing
the order of the Qur'aan.118
-
O Allaah! For you I have prostrated;
in You I have believed; to You I have
submitted; [You are my Lord;] my face
has prostrated for the One Who created
it and shaped it , [shaped it excellently,]
then brought forth its hearing and
vision: [so] blessed be Allaah, the
Best to Create!119
-
O Allaah! Forgive me all my sins:
the minor and the major, the first
and the last, the open and the hidden.120
-
My person and my shadow have prostrated
to You; my heart has believed in You;
I acknowledge Your favours towards
me: here are my hands and whatever
I have earned against myself.121
-
How Perfect is He Who has all Power,
Kingdom, Magnificence and Supremity122,
which he would say in night prayer,
as with the following ones:
-
How perfect You are [O Allaah] and
Praised. None has the right to be worshipped
except you.123
-
O Allaah! Forgive me what (sins)
I have concealed and what (sins) I
have done openly.124
-
O Allaah! Place light in my heart;
[and light in my tongue;] and place
light in my hearing; and place light
in my seeing; and place light from
below me; and place light from above
me, and light on my right, and light
on my left; and place light ahead of
me; and place light behind me; [and
place light in my self;] and make the
light greater for me.125
-
[O Allaah!] [Indeed] I seek refuge
with Your Pleasure from Your Anger;
[I seek refuge] with Your Pardons from
Your Punishment; I seek refuge with
You from You. I cannot count all exultations
upon You; You are as You have extolled
Yourself.126
He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used to
forbid recitation of the Qur'aan in rukoo'
and sujood, and commanded striving in,
and a lot of, supplication in this posture,
as explained previously under "Rukoo'".
He also used to say, The slave is closest
to his Lord when he is prostrating, so
increase supplication [in it].127
He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would make
his sujood about as long as his rukoo',
and sometimes he would make it extremely
long due to the circumstances, as one of
his Companions said:
"The
Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi
wa sallam) came out to us for one of
the two later prayers, [Zuhr or 'Asr,]
carrying Hasan or Husain. The Prophet
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) then
came to the front and put him down [next
to his right foot], said takbeer for
the prayer and commenced praying. During
the prayer, he performed a very long
prostration, so I raised my head [from
among the people], and there was the
child, on the back of the Messenger of
Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam),
who was in prostration. I then returned
to my prostration. When the Messenger
of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
had offered the prayer, the people said,
'O Messenger of Allaah! In the middle
of [this] your prayer, you performed
a prostration and lengthened it so much
that we thought either something had
happened, or that you were receiving
revelation!' He said, Neither of those
was the case: actually, my son made me
his mount, so I did not want to hurry
him until he had satisfied his wish "128
In another hadeeth, "He (sallallaahu
'alaihi wa sallam) was praying. When
he performed sajdah, al-Hasan and al-Husain
jumped onto his back. When the people
tried to stop them, he gestured to them
to leave the two alone. After offering
his prayer, he placed them in his lap
and said, Whoever loves me should
love these two."129
He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used to
say, There is no one among my ummah
whom I will not recognise on the Day of
Resurrection. They said, "How will
you recognise them, O Messenger of Allaah,
among the multitude of created beings?"
He said, Do you not see that were one
of you to enter an enclosure in which there
was a jet black130
steed and a horse with a white forehead
and legs131,
would you not recognise the latter from
the former? They said, "Of course."
He said, Thus, my ummah on that day
will surely have white faces132
because of sujood, and white arms and feet133
because of ablution.134
He would also say, When Allaah intends
to have mercy on whomsoever he wishes
of the people of the Fire, He will order
the angels to bring out whoever used
to worship Allaah; so they will bring
them out, recognising them from the marks
of sujood, for Allaah has prohibited
the Fire from devouring the marks of
sujood. Thus, they will be brought out
from the Fire, for the Fire devours all
of a son of Aadam except the marks of
sujood.135
He
would often prostrate on the (bare) ground.137
"His
Companions would pray with him in the
intense heat, so when one of them could
not press his forehead against the ground,
he would spread his robe and prostrate
on that."138
He also used to say, the whole earth
has been made a place of worship (masjid)
and a purification for me and my ummah;
so wherever prayer becomes due on someone
of my ummah, he has his place of worship
(masjid) and his purification next to
him. Those before me used to think that
this was too much: indeed, they would
only pray in their churches and synagogues.139
Sometimes, he would prostrate in mud
and water, and that happened to him once
at dawn on the twenty-first night of
Ramadaan, when it rained and the roof
of the mosque, which was made of palm-branches,
was washed away. So he (sallallaahu 'alaihi
wa sallam) prostrated in mud and water;
Abu Sa'eed al- Khudri said, "So I saw,
with my own eyes, the Messenger of Allaah
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), with
traces of mud and water on his forehead
and nose."140
Also, "he would pray on a khumrah"141
sometimes, or "on a mat"142
sometimes, and "he prayed on it once
when it had become blackened due to prolonged
use."143
Next,
"he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would
raise his head from prostration while saying
takbeer"144,
and he ordered "the one who prayed badly"
to do that, saying, The prayer of any
person is not complete until ... he prostrates
until his limbs are at rest, then he says,
'Allah is the Greatest' and raises his
head until he is sitting straight.145
Also, "he would raise his hands with this
takbeer" sometimes.146
Next,
"he would lay his left foot along the ground
and sit on it [relaxed]"147,
and he ordered "the one who prayed badly"
thus, saying to him, When you prostrate,
prostrate firmly, then when you rise, sit
on your left thigh.148
"He
would have his right foot upright"149,
and "point its toes towards the qiblah."150
[See diagram - qss]
"He
would sometimes practise iq'aa' [resting
on both his heels and (all) his toes]."151
"He
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would be
relaxed until every bone returned to its
(proper) position"152,
and he ordered "the one who prayed badly"
likewise, and said to him, The prayer
of any of you is not complete until he
does this.153
Also,
"he would lengthen it until it was about
almost as long as his sajdah"154,
and sometimes, "he would remain (in this
position) until one would say: He has forgotten."155
In
this sitting, he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam) would say:
-
O Allaah! (in one version: O
my Lord!) Forgive me; have mercy
on me; [strengthen me;] [raise my rank;]
guide me; [pardon me;] sustain me.156
Or sometimes, he would say:
-
O my Lord! Forgive me, forgive me.157
He
would say the above two in night prayer
also.158
Next,
"he would say takbeer and prostrate for
the second time."159
He also ordered "the one who prayed badly"
to do so, saying to him after he had ordered
him to be at ease between sajdahs, then
say 'Allaah is the Greatest' and prostrate
until your joints are relaxed [and do that
in all your prayer].160
He would perform this sajdah exactly as
he performed the first one. Also, "he would
raise his hands with this takbeer" sometimes.161
Next, "he would raise his head while
saying takbeer"162,
and he ordered "the one who prayed badly"
to do likewise, saying to him after ordering
him to prostrate for the second time,
"then raise your head and say takbeer"163.
He also said to him, "[then do that
in all your bowings and prostrations,]
for if you do that, your prayer will
be complete, and if you fall short in
any of this, you will be deficient in
your prayer."164
Also, "he would raise his hands"165
sometimes with this takbeer.
Next,
"he would sit straight [on his left foot,
upright, until every bone returned to its
position]."166
Next,
"he (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would
get up for the second rak'ah, supporting
himself on the ground."167
Also, "he would clench his fists168
during prayer: supporting himself with
his hands when getting up."169
|