✍ Written by: Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri حفظه الله
[Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 2708, 27 – Chain is authentic]
[Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 2708 – Chain is authentic]
[Sunan al-Dārimī, Hadith 1360]
[Al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā: 2/187]
[Musnad Aḥmad: 2/381; Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 840; Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 1092]
Chain is weak due to uncertainty about Muḥammad bin ʿAbdullah bin Ḥasan hearing from Abū al-Zinād.
[Abū Dāwūd: 838; al-Nasā’ī: 1090; al-Tirmidhī: 268; Ibn Mājah: 883]
Chain is weak due to Shurayk bin ʿAbdullah being weak and a mudallis (concealer).
Examples include:
❀ Introduction
When going into sujood (prostration) during prayer, both placing the knees first or the hands first are acceptable. There is flexibility in this matter, and both methods are permissible. No marfūʿ (directly attributed to the Prophet ﷺ) narration is firmly established on this issue, but reports from the Salaf (early generations) are available.✿ Reports from the Salaf
① Khalid Ḥadhdhāʾ رحمه الله said:
"I saw Abu Qilabah رحمه الله, when going into prostration, he would first place his knees, and when standing up (for the second rakʿah), he would lean on his hands."
② Khalid Ḥadhdhāʾ رحمه الله said:
"I saw al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله, he would go into prostration by placing his hands first and lean on them when rising."
③ Imam al-Dārimī رحمه الله (d. 255 AH) said:
"Both methods are valid."
④ Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (d. 728 AH) said:
"As for both positions, it is permissible by consensus of the scholars. Whether the worshiper places the knees before the hands or the hands before the knees, his prayer is valid in both cases by consensus."
❀ Placing Hands First
✧ Hadith from Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه:
"When one of you goes into prostration, he should not descend like a camel, rather he should place his hands before his knees."
Chain is weak due to uncertainty about Muḥammad bin ʿAbdullah bin Ḥasan hearing from Abū al-Zinād.
✧ Criticism:
- Imam al-Bukhārī: "He is not followed; I don't know if he heard from Abū al-Zinād."
- Imam Ḥamzah al-Kinānī: "This hadith is munkar (denounced)."
- ʿAllāmah Ibn al-ʿArabī: Declared it weak.
❀ Placing Knees First
✧ Hadith from Wāʾil bin Ḥujr رضي الله عنه:
"I saw the Prophet ﷺ place his knees before his hands when going into sujood, and raise his hands before his knees when rising."
Chain is weak due to Shurayk bin ʿAbdullah being weak and a mudallis (concealer).
✧ Other Related Reports:
All reports that attribute the practice of placing knees first to the Prophet ﷺ or his companions have weak chains, often due to unreliable narrators, missing links, or deficiencies in transmission.Examples include:
- Report from Wāʾil bin Ḥujr via Muḥammad bin Ḥijr al-Ḥaḍramī – weak and munkar.
- Another from Abū Hurairah رضي الله عنه commanding knees before hands – fabricated (includes ʿAbdullah bin Saʿīd al-Maqburī, who is weak and abandoned).
- From Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه – severely weak due to unknown narrators and missing links.
- From Saʿd bin Abī Waqqāṣ رضي الله عنه – false, involving multiple abandoned narrators.
❀ Conclusion and Summary
- Both methods (placing hands or knees first in sujood) are found in early Muslim practice.
- The majority of narrations directly about the Prophet ﷺ are weak, whether they advocate for hands first or knees first.
- Authentic reports from the Salaf (like Abū Qilabah and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī) support both approaches.
- Great scholars, including Ibn Taymiyyah and al-Dārimī, confirmed the validity and permissibility of both.
- Therefore, either method may be used, and no blame or correction should be imposed on one who follows either.