Interlocking Fingers in the Mosque
One of the etiquettes of the mosque and especially of prayer is that during the prayer or while sitting in the mosque waiting for the prayer, or when going to the mosque from home after performing ablution, one should not interlock the fingers of both hands at any place. Because this act is forbidden and disliked. There are many evidences in the hadiths prohibiting it. For example, it is narrated in Sunan Darimi, Mustadrak Hakim, and Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) through two chains that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
إذا توضأ أحدكم فى بيته ثم أتى المسجد كان فى الصلاة حتى يرجع فلا يفعل هكذا و شبك بين أصابعه
When any one of you performs ablution at home and then comes to the mosque, he is considered to be in prayer until he returns home. Therefore, he should not do this during that time, and then the Prophet (peace be upon him) interlocked the fingers of one hand with the fingers of the other hand.
Similarly, in Darimi and Tabarani Awsat, it is narrated from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
إذا توضأ أحدكم للصلاة فلا يشبك بين أصابعه
When any one of you performs ablution for prayer, then he should not interlock the fingers of both hands.
Likewise, it is narrated from Hazrat Ka’b bin Ujrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn Majah, Musnad Ahmad, Tayalisi, Sunan Darimi, and Bayhaqi that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
إذا توضأ أحدكم فأحسن وضوءه ثم خرج عامدا إلى المسجد فلا يشبكن بين أصابعه فإنه فى الصلاة
When any one of you performs ablution and does it well and then leaves for the mosque with the intention to pray, he should not interlock his fingers because he is considered to be in prayer.
In the same context, it is narrated with an authentic chain in Sunan Abi Dawood from Hazrat Salim (may Allah be pleased with him) that regarding a person who prays with interlocked fingers, Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) said:
تلك صلاة المغضوب عليهم
This is the way of prayer of those people upon whom Allah’s wrath has descended.
And in a hadith in Musnad Ahmad and Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah:
إن التشبيك من الشيطان وإن أحدكم لا يزال فى صلاة ما دام فى المسجد حتى يخرج منه
Interlocking fingers is a satanic act. And any one of you who remains in the mosque is considered to be in prayer until he leaves from there.
And in Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Sahih Ibn Hibban, and Musnad Ahmad, there is a hadith:
أنت فى صلاة ما أنتظرت الصلاة
As long as you remain waiting for the prayer, you are like those who are actually praying.
From these prophetic instructions, it is clear that from the moment one leaves home until leaving the mosque, one should not interlock the fingers of the hands at any time. Secondly, as long as a person remains sitting in the mosque waiting for a prayer, he is given as much reward as one who remains engaged in prayer during that time. Therefore, this act is declared forbidden and disliked during this period.
Wisdoms Behind Dislike or Prohibition:
There are five different opinions regarding the wisdom behind declaring this act disliked:
First: That it is a futile or meaningless act.
Second: That it is an act resembling disagreement.
Third: That it resembles the devil, as mentioned in the hadith.
Fourth: That it is contrary to the attitude of humility and submissiveness.
Fifth: That it causes sleepiness to dominate, and there is a risk of ablution being broken. Accordingly, Imam Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote in “Riyadh as-Salihin”:
If a person sits with his arms around his knees, interlocking fingers and sitting cross-legged, sleep will come. Therefore, one harm is that ablution will be broken. Another harm is that if he sits like this during the Friday sermon, not only will his ablution break due to sleepiness, but he will also not be able to listen to the sermon, which is a loss.
Four Cases of Interlocking Fingers:
And Allama Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi has narrated from later scholars that they have divided the act of interlocking fingers into four cases, among which:
First case:
This is when a person is in the state of prayer and during the prayer interlocks the fingers of his hands. The prohibition and dislike of this act are explicitly mentioned in the hadiths, leaving no room for doubt or suspicion.
Second case:
This is when a person is sitting in the mosque waiting for prayer or has performed ablution at home and intends to go to the mosque to pray. In both these situations, it is considered under the ruling of the praying person. Therefore, in both aspects of this case, interlocking fingers is a forbidden act, and its prohibition is also mentioned in the aforementioned hadiths.
Third case:
This is when a person is in the mosque but neither intends to pray at that moment nor is waiting for another prayer. Rather, he is staying in the mosque for some reason before leaving after finishing the prayer. In this case, there is allowance for him to interlock his fingers. It is permissible, although avoidance is better. We will mention hadiths indicating its permissibility later.
Fourth case:
This is when a person is outside the mosque and not even coming towards the mosque for prayer. In this absolute case, its permissibility and lack of dislike are even more evident.
One great benefit of this division into four different cases is that it resolves the apparent contradiction between two types of hadiths—some permitting and some prohibiting the act. This division removes all such contradictions.
Ruling for women:
This matter is not exclusive to men who go to the mosque to pray. The dislike and prohibition of this act apply to women as well. Even if they do not come to the mosque, at least at home they stand or sit on the prayer mat, sometimes praying and sometimes for other matters. Sometimes they remain seated on the prayer mat after one prayer for the next prayer. They also perform ablution and arrange the prayer mat. During all these situations, interlocking fingers is forbidden for them as well. And in the two cases where permissibility and lack of dislike are mentioned for men, obviously the same allowance and lack of dislike apply to women.
Cases of permissibility and resolving contradictions:
Now, the two cases in which interlocking fingers of both hands is permissible are: first, when a person is not outside the mosque but neither praying nor waiting for the next prayer. In such a case, it is permissible. Second, if a person is outside the mosque and has performed ablution but is not going to the mosque for prayer, then in this absolute state it is certainly permissible.
Accordingly, when hadiths are used as evidence in this regard, one of them is narrated from Hazrat Abu Musa Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him) in Sahih Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasai, and Shu’ab al-Iman by Ibn Abi Shaybah. He reports that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
إن المؤمن للمؤمن كالبنيان يشد بعضه بعضا
“A believer is like a brick in a wall, each part strengthening the other.”
Then Hazrat Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) states that the Prophet (peace be upon him), to explain the matter,
وشبك أصابعه
interlocked his fingers.
Similarly, it is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar or Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did this on some occasion. It is narrated in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim:
شبك النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم أصابعه
The Prophet (peace be upon him) interlocked his fingers.
From these two hadiths, an apparent absolute permissibility is inferred. But if one reflects on the wisdom behind the prohibition, the absolute application does not remain. Because the first wisdom mentioned for prohibition is that interlocking fingers is a futile and meaningless act, hence forbidden. Whereas the blessed action of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in these hadiths was not like that.
Rather, according to the commentator of Bukhari, Al-Badr Ibn Al-Munir, it was an example given to explain, because demonstrating something with a tangible thing makes it more understandable. Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) explained the unity and strength of believers by likening it to the strength produced by interlocking fingers, meaning when believers walk shoulder to shoulder like fingers interlocked, they become like a brick wall.
Similarly, mutual disagreement and entanglement can also be easily understood and explained by this analogy. Hence, the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) doing this had a rational basis and was not without reason. Secondly, the prohibition applies to those who are in prayer or waiting for prayer, whose ruling is that of the praying person. Whereas these two hadiths are absolute and do not mention the Prophet (peace be upon him) being in prayer or waiting for prayer.
Besides these hadiths, there is another hadith, famous in Sahihain and other books, in which Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) mentions the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) forgetfulness in a prayer, where some rak’ahs were missed. The Prophet (peace be upon him) concluded the prayer with salam, then leaned on a piece of wood lying in the mosque and stood in a manner as if someone is angry. Then he said:
ووضع يده اليمنى على اليسرى و شبك بين أصابعه
He (peace be upon him) placed his right hand over his left and interlocked the fingers of both hands.
Then it is mentioned that he placed his right cheek on the back of his left hand, and some people quickly left saying that the prayer was shortened today, although among them were venerable companions like Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). Yet none dared to speak to the Prophet (peace be upon him) about this matter except a tall man named Dhul-Walidain, who said: O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)!
أنسيت أم قصرت الصلاة؟
Have you forgotten or was the prayer shortened today?
The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied:
لم أنس ولم تقصر
Neither have I forgotten nor was the prayer shortened.
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) sought confirmation from other companions about Dhul-Walidain’s statement, and all confirmed that the prayer was indeed shortened. The Prophet (peace be upon him) then prayed the missed rak’ahs and performed the prostration of forgetfulness.
In some narrations of this incident in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, it is also narrated from Hazrat Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
إنما أنا بشر أنسى كما تنسون فإذا نسيت فذكروني
I am a human being; I also forget like you. So when I forget, remind me (by giving me a cue).
The place of evidence in this incident is the words of Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), who described the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) manner of leaning on the wood and said:
و شبك بين أصابعه
He (peace be upon him) interlocked the fingers of both hands.
In this incident, it is clear that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not do this to explain anything to anyone. Hence, it indicates general permissibility. But this permissibility is not absolute either. Rather, a commentator of Bukhari, Ismaili, says that this hadith does not contradict the hadith of prohibition because the prohibition applies when one is in prayer or waiting for prayer, whose ruling is that of the praying person. These three hadiths are free from that condition.
Meaning, none of them mention the Prophet (peace be upon him) doing this while praying or waiting for prayer; rather, it happened in an absolute state. And in the third hadith of Dhul-Walidain, where interlocking fingers is mentioned, it occurred after the Prophet (peace be upon him) had forgotten and thought he had completed the prayer, had given salam, and moved from his place. Thus, he was neither in prayer nor waiting for prayer. Therefore, no contradiction remains between the hadiths of permissibility and prohibition.
In summary, from all this detail, it is understood that the two types of hadiths regarding interlocking fingers do not contradict each other. The hadiths that prohibit it relate to cases when a person is in prayer or waiting for prayer or coming from home for prayer. The hadiths that permit it relate to neither prayer nor waiting for prayer but rather to an absolute state.
Allama Abdullah Rahmani has mentioned extensive details on this topic in “Al-Mar’ah Sharh Mishkat,” and Imam Shawkani (may Allah have mercy on him) also wrote at the end of this discussion that:
Regarding the apparent difference in this issue, it is more correct to say that the hadiths prohibiting it are specific to the members of the Ummah, and the personal action of the Prophet (peace be upon him) cannot contradict a directive that is specific to the Ummah, as is the established principle in the books of Usul.
