The Prophetic Method of Rising from Prostration and the Tashahhud
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he finished the second prostration, would sit, then place his hands on the ground and rise by supporting himself with his hands.
❀ Sayyidna Malik ibn Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
أَنَّهُ رَأَى النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُصَلِّي فَإِذَا كَانَ فِي وِتْرِ مِنْ صَلَاتِهِ لَمْ يَنْهَضْ حَتَّى يَسْتَوِيَ قَاعِدًا
“He saw the Prophet ﷺ praying. When he was in an odd rak’ah of his prayer, he would not stand up until he had sat upright and settled.”
In another narration it is:
وَإِذَا رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ عَنِ السَّجْدَةِ الثَّانِيَةِ جَلَسَ وَاعْتَمَدَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ قَامَ
“When he raised his head from the second prostration, he would sit and lean on the ground, then rise.”
❀ Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him), explaining this hadith, says:
والغرض منه هنا ذكر الإعتماد على الأرض عند القيام من السجود أو الجلوس.
“The purpose of Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) in mentioning this hadith here is that when rising from prostration or sitting, both hands should be placed on the ground.”
❀ Abu Qilabah says that Sayyidna Malik ibn Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting among us, and he said: Shall I not describe to you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?
So he prayed outside the time of a prescribed prayer (and showed us), then when he raised his head from the second prostration of the first rak’ah, he sat upright, then stood up and supported himself on the ground with his hands.
From these hadiths it becomes clear that after rising from prostration one should perform the sitting for rest (jalsah al-istirahah), then place both hands on the ground and stand up for the next rak’ah.
◈ How should one go into prostration?
Likewise, when bowing for prostration, one should first place the hands on the ground, then place the knees on the ground, and then prostrate; and this is established by an authentic hadith.
❀ Sayyidna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إِذَا سَجَدَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلَا يَبْرُكْ كَمَا يَبْرُكُ الْبَعِيرُ وَلْيَضَعْ يَدَيْهِ قَبْلَ رُكْبَتَيْهِ۔
“When any of you prostrates, he should not sit down like a camel sits; he should place his hands before his knees.”
Placing the hands on the ground means supporting oneself on the ground with the palms of the hands, and this is also clarified by some hadiths, for example:
Sayyidna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَسْجُدَ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ أَعْظُم: عَلَى الْجَبْهَةِ – وَأَشَارَ بِيَدِهِ عَلَى أَنْفِهِ وَالْيَدَيْنِ وَالرُّكْبَتَيْنِ وَأَطْرَافِ الْقَدَمَيْنِ۔
“I have been commanded to prostrate on seven bones: on the forehead – and he pointed with his hand to his nose (meaning the nose and forehead are one bone) – both hands, both knees, and the toes of both feet.”
In this hadith, prostrating on both hands means placing the palms of both hands on the ground.
❀ Sayyidna Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates:
أَنَّ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ إِذَا جَلَسَ فِي الصَّلَاةِ، وَضَعَ يَدَيْهِ عَلَى ركبتيه۔
“When the Prophet ﷺ sat in prayer, he would place both his hands on his knees.”
Placing both hands on the knees means placing the palms of both hands on the knees.
Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that he said to Sayyidna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him):
أَكَانَتِ الْمُصَافَحَةُ فِي أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ؟
Was there handshaking (the practice of musafahah) among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ?
He said: (نعم) “Yes.”
❀ Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
المصافحة: هي مفاعلة من الصفحة والمراد بها الإفضاء بصفحة اليد إلى صفحة اليد.
“The word ‘musafahah’ is a form of ‘mufa’alah’ from ‘safhah’, and it means that a person joins the palm of his right hand (the inner surface of the palm) to the palm of the right hand (the inner surface of the palm) of another person.”
It is thus known that “hand” refers to the palm of the hand. There are many other examples of this, which show that “hand” generally means the palm, and dictionaries such as Al-Munjid and others also give this same meaning of “hand.”
From this discussion it is established that when rising from prostration or from the tashahhud, one should rise by placing both palms on the ground. And the word ”عجن‘‘ is not present in these authentic hadiths.
Some people say that when rising from prostration or the tashahhud, one should rise “like one kneading dough, by closing the fingers into a fist and placing the backs of the fingers on the ground.” And their basic evidence in this matter is the following narration:
❀ Azraq ibn Qays (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates:
رَأَيْتُ عَبْدَ اللهِ بْنَ عُمَرَ وَهُوَ يُعْجِنُ فِي الصَّلَاةِ، يَعْتَمِدُ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ إِذَا قَامَ ، فَقُلْتُ: مَا هَذَا يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ؟ قَالَ: رَأَيْتُ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ يُعْجِنُ فِي الصَّلَاةِ ، يَعْنِي: يَعْتَمِدُ.
“I saw Sayyidna Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) in prayer (closing his hands) like one kneading dough, and he would lean on his hands when he stood up.”
However, this narration is not authentic; in its chain is Haytham ibn Ulqamah ibn Qays ibn Tha’labah. No one knows who this narrator is, and despite extensive searching we have not found his biography. If this is Haytham ibn Imran al-Dimashqi, then he is majhul (unknown).
Our shaykh Zubair Ali Zai (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
The narrator of the narration about rising like kneading dough, Haytham ibn Imran al-Dimashqi, is narrated from by a group of trustworthy narrators, but no one has declared him trustworthy except Ibn Hibban; therefore he is majhul al-hal (of unknown condition). According to the principles of hadith, a narration whose majhul al-hal narrator lacks corroboration is indeed da’if (weak); therefore this narration is weak, and declaring it hasan is wrong.
