Step 8 of 13
Sitting between the Two Prostrations
After the first prostration the one praying says "Allahu akbar", rises and sits upright, then goes down into the second prostration. 'A'ishah described the Prophet ﷺ sitting on his left foot with his right foot upright.
The Prophet ﷺ told the man who prayed badly to raise his head and sit until he was at ease before prostrating again. 'A'ishah said that when he raised his head from a prostration he would not prostrate again until he had sat up straight.
Hudhayfah heard the Prophet ﷺ say in this sitting "Rabbighfir li", My Lord, forgive me.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Is sitting upright between the two prostrations a pillar?
3 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi.
Show each school
- Obligatory (wajib), not a pillarHanafi
- Pillar (rukn)Maliki · Shafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- Lifting the head enough to separate the two prostrations is required, but sitting upright is wajib in the relied-upon view of Abu Hanifah and Muhammad; Abu Yusuf held it to be a pillar.
- Maliki
- Rising from the prostration and sitting between the two prostrations is obligatory.
- Shafi'i
- It is a pillar, following the command to sit until at ease.
- Hanbali
- It is a pillar, following the command to sit until at ease.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 793 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 6252 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 498Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan Abi Dawud 874 Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: SahihSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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