How Did the Prophet Sit During Prayer?

Alhamd.

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We had left off in our previous session discussing what the prophet s. would say between his two between the two s we mentioned the narration of that he would say and he would say it over and over and we also mention the narration of I and there are other wordings as well we've often mentioned that a very good book to refer to with regards to what a person should say when and the narrations and the the supplications of the prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam and thear of the Prophet s. wasam and the an of the Prophet sallallah alaih wasallam at different venues different instances different times a very good book for that and a very concise book is Muslim it's in wide circulation it is abundantly available and accessible and Muslim Fortress of a Muslim is a is a very good book it has been critiqued by some as having some weak narrations this is is an issue of opinion and it's an issue of itad and so while some Scholars May view that there are weak narrations in it others will view that those narrations are not in fact weak this is a very very good book to refer to and a person should memorize of this book as much as he or she is able to moving on discussing the prophet s.'s following meaning we discussed what he would do from the beginning of Salah all through the first and then back to the standing position again for the second or the subse subsequent what would he do well he says here that he the prophet Sall wasam would continue on with the remainder units of prayer and subsequent in his prayer just as he had performed the first ra so exactly as he performed the first he would per form the second and third and fourth he said except for four things four things are different and unique to the first ra number one a which means that he would be silent between the the initiating and reciting the Quran that is only for the first ra and we discuss that the second is these supplications or the Dua that is made after the first and at the beginning of this is something which is particular and unique to the first likewise third thing is the initiating we don't have that that is only in the first and the fourth and final difference would be which is the length we said that the order of the Prophet Sall alam's prayer would be longest to shortest so all of the the first RA in any prayer is the longest and then each subsequent units of prayer would become incrementally shorter he says now with regards to T which is what occurs in the second or the fourth or the third right for or depending in the night prayer it depends on on what kind of prayer he is making he says he says and if the prophet Sall Al wasam would sit for he would place his left hand over his left thigh and he would likewise place his right hand on his right thigh I believe I have a misprint here and he would gesture with his index finger of his right hand straight and we've described this before and he would neither make it high up right so is it it is as it is pointing to the sky nor would he make it going down it would be just in the middle almost pointing and some Scholars have mentioned pointing towards the yes he says so he would neither erect it and point Towards the Sky with it nor would he have it flat down right as if he is praying with it pointing towards the ground rather it would be straight yeah rather he would slightly slightly bend it right and he would move it just I'm doing right here this is what is describing and he would CLP both his pinky and ring fingers right this and he would make a circle form a circle with his middle finger and his thumb while clasping these two fingers which are the pinky and the ring finger right and then he would move his finger in this way that I am describing to you exactly right now and he would do it just as I'm doing it this is what is is intending by what he's saying right and he would move it ever so slightly as he is making Dua so kind of emphasis when you're making Dua with your hands right this emphasis that you move your hands and say please please same thing here with the with the finger and he would stare at it he would look at his finger in this position the scholars differ on many of these details however the issue is is that where should a person look during prayer this is an issue that has been discussed and debated amongst Scholars of both of both ancient and and contemporary times where should a person's Vision be focused when he or she is in prayer and the correct opinion is that while a person is in the standing position if he is the Imam he should look to his place of sujud or if he's playing praying alone if he is praying behind an Imam then it should be between his place of suu and the IM person should look at the IM when the IM moves when the IM makes Etc because the person if he can see the Imam he needs to see what the Imam is doing if a person is in rur it would just be wherever his vision naturally Falls in rur others mention like I that it should be perhaps between his two feet or straight to the ground when a person is in sudu his eyes are open they are exactly where they can only look they only have one choice of Direction and that is the place of suud and in the sitting position in t that a person be looking at his or her finger right while they are in Salah doesn't mean that the head needs to bend right sometimes we see people exaggerate they're trying to follow the Sunnah and so they do things that they do not are not aware of that they are doing so they will bend their head or they will look this the the head is straight the face is towards the and his out of the corner of his eye he is looking at his index finger in and so the prophet alai wasam would extend his left hand over his left thigh and he would also lean and put his weight onto his left arm and his left thigh and as for how he would sit for his and here is speaking about the first so this is for or any regular optional prayers or as well he is speaking about the first T of any prayer that has more than one t so he would have his left arm this and he's leaning on it his weight is resting onto his left arm his right finger and hand is as we've described and he's sitting with his left foot underneath his buto and his his weight is on that and then he's got his right foot perched up with the toes towards the he says for.

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And so there is a narration on the authority of Zu Zu abdah Zu he was born in the time of the Prophet sallai wasallam however he was a young boy when the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam passed away but his narrations are considered to be narrations that are accepted as long as the chain of narration leading to him is authentic then it is considered to be a narration which is authentic and the reason for this is that he would have only heard these narrations from his father or anybody else his father or others of the companions of the Prophet sallallah alai wasallam this narration is collected by IM Muslim which states that if the prophet sallam would sit for Salah he would place his left foot between his right thigh and right shank the thigh and shank of his right foot that's the this is the right thigh he would place his foot underneath like this and he would be sitting on the ground this is how Zu described this he says this is not for regular this is for the last so the third of the fourth of and this is what is known as amongst the scholars of and and this is one of the types of is a very specific way that the prophet Sall was narrated to have sat in the final T in the final T so we have in the first and because it only has one we mentioned the way that he would sit now in the second Tah which would be the final in he would often do something called A and A is a different position that he would sit in this is something which is not obligatory this is something which is of the Sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam and the various types of are all mentioned in the six books of Hadith meaning not every type is in every one of the six books meaning Collective those three types so we have the first and most common type of is that he sallallahu alaih wasallam would sit and his left foot would go out under the shin of his right foot of his right leg and his right leg would be up and it would be coming out this protruding from the side and his leg is going over this and he would be resting sitting on the ground that is one type of another type of that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was narrated to have done is that both of his feet would be out towards the right and he would be sitting on the floor his right leg would be over his left foot and his right foot would be coming out like this now a third is what was just mentioned here by on the authority of I Zu and that is that he would sit with his right foot jutting out and his left foot between the thigh and shin of his right leg and his weight would be on the ground and his butt o would be flat on the ground he would be sitting on the ground these are three types of now the point of a is that it is to distinguish between the first and second T right especially for those who are praying behind the Imam that they can come and they can see that the Imam is in the first or the final T now this is something that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would do and a person is encouraged to do it even on his own as long as it will not as long as it will not interfere with his neighbors in the in prayer so while a person is is in the row in Salah normal Salah now we have special circumstances obviously with with covid but inshallah when things go back to normal and people start to pray shoulder toosh shoulder again it is not correct for a person to make and place all of his because the weight will shift once you have both of your feet and legs out to the right your weight is going to shift to the left and if if you're praying next to someone close you're going to end up essentially placing all of your weight on that person that's extremely annoying extremely rude person is not to do that in prayer the prophet s. wasam mentions in a sun on the authority that the best of you in prayer is that the best of you in prayer is the one who has the softest shoulders and the scholars mention what does that mean the softest shoulders and one of the meanings of that is that he is not rigid in his position to where he will put in a position of discomfort comfort those who are praying on either side of him rather he will mold himself to the to the row that he is praying in so sometimes people they are enthusiastic to follow the Sunnah but if we don't have all of the knowledge we just have some of it and we try to practice only some of it we end up neither practicing the Sunnah nor practicing anything else so it's important that we have all of the Sunnah anything that we learn we learn it entirely so that when we do it we know that we're doing it correctly part knowledge or half of knowledge is is is very dangerous at times he he says he goes on to say.

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He said and the prophet s would always make t in this position meaning in the first you make this T and in the second tah you as well make this Tah with and the wording of that is and in another wording both are correct now a person may hear this and think that well wait a minute that's a little bit different in its wording than what I was taught there are a number of wordings of T just as there are a number of wordings of so there are a number of ways to make a and the different various wordings are found in bukari and Muslim likewise there are various wordings of a and it's important that a person learn one of these wordings you don't have to know all of them and you don't have to say all of them but you do have to make sure you're saying at least one of them right so you need to make sure that the wording that you choose is a wording that is authentically reported from the prophet Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam Scholars of Islam mentioned that the supplications of the Prophet s. wasam and thear they are to be narrated and they are to be worded exactly literally as the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was narrated to have worded them and that they not be altered or mentioned by meaning generally the narrations of the Prophet sallallah alai wasam what's important in narration is their meaning that when a person narrates them they narrate them by the meaning even if the wording slightly varies however when it comes to wording ofar and supplications the scholars of Islam mention he says.

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Now is still speaking about the first tah and that is that this is the only that he would make in the first when a person sits for the first of a prayer that has more than one so other than then he would s say only this meaning the Dua the supplication of to the end of the narration and that he Alam would make this very brief meaning that this T is not lengthy it is very brief and it has not been authentically reported ever that the prophet Sall wasam would make a Salah upon himself in this situation meaning what we refer to as this is something which is reserved for the final and it is not something that is to be done in the first also the other things which are particular to the final t such as seeking refuge in Allah from four things what are those four things seeking refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from the punishment of the Grave from the punishment of the here the Hellfire from the misguides of this life and the Hereafter from the the fitna of or the trials and tribulations of this is something which is reserved as well to the to the final T and those Scholars that mention that this is to be done and it's okay and it's must to be done in the first this is something which they have derived from generalities that are found but we don't have any specifics that the prophet sallallahu alaihi was or his companions would do it in this way hence these are things which are reserved solely for the second T the first T is just to have the Dua the supplication of t in it as we have just mentioned and he s after completing the first he would stand up to go and transition into the third ra he would do this by shifting his weight forward putting his two feet up the balls of his feet onto the ground planting them and then standing up while having his weight and using his hands on his thighs and his knees to stand up this is how describes this he.

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Says and in Muslim and in some wordings in it's narrated that the prophet sallai am would raise his hands in this position so what does that mean that means that when he has concluded his T he would stand up and when he would reach the standing position he would raise his hands and then he would place them right over left and then continue to recite it's mentioned that he would only recite in the third fourth of prayer and it has not been authentically reported as tells us here that he would recite anything in addition to in the third or fourth of obligatory prayer so in the second and third of second and third of the third of the second the third and fourth excuse me me the third and fourth of and and and in the third of he would recite only he said and it was not something that would be of the actions of the Prophet Sall alai wasallam in prayer that he would move his head around and look around while he is in prayer and in he was asked about someone who does this during his or her prayer that you're in prayer and you're looking around and the prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam responded and said this is a a theft that the Shan committ towards the prayer of a person because if a person is is looking around at that moment they have lost their focus in prayer and if they have lost their focus in prayer the only thing that they are that they are achieving in their prayer is what they have focused on and what they have said whole heart whole wholeheartedly and earnestly and so if a person becomes distracted at any time during that prayer they have essentially lost that part of the prayer prayer and so the prophet sallallahu alai wasallam mentions that this is a type of deprivation that a Shan performs on a person's prayer that they will steal parts that he the Shan will steal parts of a a person's prayer and this is one of the ways that that happens he says well can yet this doesn't mean that it is totally impermissible for a person to look at something while he is in prayer if there is some thing that a person that draws a person's attention and a person needs to look at it during prayer then this is something which is permissible U let's say there's a loud noise and people look towards where that noise came from or the Imam is praying in front of people and they're looking at the Imam what he is doing what his position is or anything else there's some kind of something occurred for a person to have to look towards that thing this is something which is which is permissible and this is something which is not a problem what we're speaking about is being distracted on a constant basis in prayer he says.

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Another thing is that a person has a period where they can supplicate or ask for anything during this period and that is after a person finishes at finishes finishes seeking Refuge from four things between this and Salam there is a window there in which the prophet sallallah alai wasam would often use to make supplication for certain things so just as a person is in suud after he finishes sub subh and wishes to make Dua for any miscellaneous thing then likewise this position where a person has finished his of just before making a this is a time when a person is to also make Dua for whatever he or she desires to make Dua for it is to that person's discretion this has been collected from the actions of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and also from his words that he mentioned make Dua during this time and he had also been narrated to have made Dua during that time as is in the narration of he commanded that and in the narration of he actually did that as well he says and as for making Dua supplication after a person makes tasim after you make Salam to the right or to the left you're finished with your prayer you are now making tasim you finish your tasim and stand there make Dua either facing the during making this Dua or as the IM he would finish conclude then he would turn around and face the people that he had just LED in prayer and to make Dua during this position this is not something that the prophet sallallah alai wasallam ever was narrated to have done in this way he says and ask for Dua which have to do with prayer we find that any Dua that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam usually mentions most of them that have to do with prayer they are in prayer during prayer not after he says.

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He says and this matches up with the general spirits of prayer that when a person is in prayer essentially when a person is in prayer he is in a state of connectedness with Allah subhanahu wa taala and so when a person makes Dua it is during that ceremonious connectedness but when a person breaks his Connection by making T and exits the prayer this now is an inferior time to make Dua notice where I say an inferior time meaning it is not the superior time to make Dua the superior time to make Dua would be during that connected period when a person is still in prayer an inferior time compared to the superior time would be after a person breaks his prayer and after a person has made T so we see this often that people will be in prayer and they will be making Salah after they finish the Salah they make a and then they will either do some kind of or they will make Dua immediately after and often times with raising the hands right if a person leads prayer he will do it facing the with his back to the people that he had just LED in prayer or they will turn around and face the people that they have just LED in prayer and open their hands there's another one that didn't mention and that is where sometimes we see some imams they feel reluctancy to turn their back towards the right so they will turn halfway so to the right is the people that they just let in prayer to the left is the or vice versa and then they will make Dua in that position none of this is something that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would do this is not of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam Sunnah when we look at the pattern of prayer we find that supplication asking Allah is something that occurs in prayer and remembrance of Allah is something that occurs after prayer Allah subhanahu waala mentions in commanding the prophet sallallah alaih wasallam and the companions that which translates to and if you conclude your prayer then remember Allah standing sitting and on your sides meaning in all positions remember Allah subhana wa so we see that after the conclusion of prayer this is a time which is the remembrance of Allah is appropriate during this time supplication is appropriate during prayer right because of the reason that we have just mentioned also this issue of reluctancy to turn around we'll mention this now may mention it later it escapes me if he has or not when a person leads another in prayer meaning they have a row of people behind them they have people praying behind them when the prophet s. wasam would conclude prayer he would turn around and face the people that he had just LED in prayer okay would he turn to the right or would he turn to the left both both are narrated and in the narration of I masud IB Mas mentions that he would more often turn to the left than he would to the right and then he would face his congregation the people he just LED in prayer and his back would be towards the right this is how the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would do it he would turn around he would put his back towards the he would face the people that he had just led him prayer there is nothing wrong with this there is nothing to be reluctant about some people feel a reluctancy to turn their back towards the if you are in prayer n don't turn your back towards the obviously but outside of prayer this is something which is perfectly normal likewise people mention this during the position that they sit some people even mention that you should do this in your house you should turn your bed so that your right side if you're laying on your right side you're facing towards the unless you are dead this is not a position that you should assume there's no narrations of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam which mentioned this or if a person is sitting that they have their feet towards the that this is somehow impermissible this is not only permissible but this is the way that some of the companions who had injuries to their feet or legs would pray sitting on the floor with one or both of their feet towards the there's nothing wrong with this this is something that people have conjured up and it's something which comes from ex excessive Zeal or or or we should say unguided Zeal right because it's good to have Zeal it's good to be enthusiastic about following the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam but Zeal is is not enough you have to be zealous and you have to be guided you have to have knowledge of what you're doing pure emotion is not good for anybody there is a narration which some Scholars view is authentic or at least Hass that the best of positions to sit are is a position that faces you towards the the scholars of Islam mentioned that this is during Dua but this doesn't have anything to do with when a person sleep excuse me when a person sleeps or when a person sits Etc likewise some of the F have mentioned that when a person Slaughters he should lay the animal on the right side its right side facing the and Slaughter it which makes it very awkward for the majority of humanity to slaughter because the majority of humanity is right-handed so if I lay the animal on its right side its head is here and its body is here and I have the knife in my right hand it makes it extremely awkward for me to slaughter this is conjecture some Scholars some of the fuk mentioned this there is nothing explicit from the prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam that he would do this rather slaughtering of slaughtering of an animal that is an animal that is laid on its side hence goat or sheep they're the only ones laid really I mean you can lay a cow down but it's extremely difficult and a camel is impossible this is on its left side so that the person can adequately reach with the knife if he is right-handed continues on he says and and this principle that we just mentioned this pattern of this pattern of in prayer a person is to make Dua outside of prayer a person is to make when we see narrations such as the narration of mub jab oh mu the prophet alai wasallam said to.

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There's a narration that the prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam said to Mu I do love you and I'd to teach you something do not leave any prayer that you pray except at the end of that prayer you say many of us know this narration the scholars of Islam have differed has is this before or is this after and the correct opinion either way it's not a big issue I mean as long as it is said it is slightly vague and that is fine but what is more in accordance with the pattern of what we see in the Quran and Sunnah of the placement of Supplication and the placement of remembrance it would be before T right based on what has told us here he says when the prophet sallallah alaih wasallam would make he would say in this wording just that he would say this to the right and then he would say this as well to the left tells us that this is the prophet sallallahu alam's custom this is what he would always do most of the time right.

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Says and it's also been narrated that the prophet sallallahu alai wasallam would only make one t right narrates this in that he would make one Tas straightforward so he would say and then he would turn his head halfway between all the way right and straight this is the wording of says this narration is problematic in its chain and its authenticity yet even if we were to say that this narration is authentic this is something which would occur in during right and this is something that he would do during not during regular Salah with people praying behind him there are a number of ways to make t right that have been narrated that the prophet s. was did the way that he would most commonly make is the way that we just described how should this T be well we are told how it should not be and that is is it should not be it should not be a fox moves its head right very rapid and jerky this is not the Sunnah of the Prophet Sall rather narrates that the prophet sallam would make T and we would be able to see the whiteness of his cheek if we were praying behind him right so how is that he would turn all the way because if you're sitting behind me how are you going to see my cheek unless I turn all the way right this is how he would make that is the proper way to make whether you are leading prayer or you are being led in prayer all right there are other ways that he had been narrated to have made T right I'm going to mention them but the way that he would make t commonly is the way that mentioned here with that wording to both sides the first is what what we just mentioned that's number one number two so we add bar to the right a third is to the right to the left without to the left right and this falls into a pattern and that is that right then there is the fourth way that he was narrated and that is the narration of and that is and then he would turn his head slightly not completely to the right but this is something that is only narrated that he did during one final note and that is that a general rule in praying behind an IM is the statement of the Prophet Sall wasam that the Imam has been appointed as the Imam that he should be followed in prayer so if the IM makes tasim in a certain way you make that tasim exactly as he did right so if the Imam says to the right and one less to the left then that is how you will make as well person is to follow the Imam whatever the Imam does as long as what the does as part of the Sunnah what do I mean by that well there is a narration that mu was leading the companions in prayer and because of an injury to his leg when he would be in tah or the sitting position he would stick his leg out right he would be sitting down on the ground and one of his legs would be facing towards and so he noticed that everyone that prayed behind him that day prayed in that same way with their each person had a foot sticking out who told them this is only and this is not to be taken literally in every single thing that the Imam does perhaps the Imam has an injury perhaps the Imam is unaware whatever it is a person follows the IM in what is of the of the Prophet s. wasam we will conclude there for this evening inshallah next week we will continue on between 7 and 8:00 with the the supplication that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would make just before making tasim and then we will move on to some of the things that he would say after after making and then we will get into some of the rulings of a.