Step 9 of 14
Prostration (Sujud)
Say "Allahu akbar" and go down into prostration, placing your forehead and nose on the ground. The Prophet ﷺ said, "I have been commanded to prostrate on seven bones": the forehead, and he pointed to his nose, the two hands, the two knees and the ends of the two feet.
Keep your arms off the ground and away from your sides, with your toes pointing towards the qiblah, as Abu Humayd described the Prophet's ﷺ prostration.
In prostration say "Subhana rabbiyal-a'la", Glory be to my Lord, the Most High, as Hudhayfah heard the Prophet ﷺ say. The Prophet ﷺ said, "The nearest a servant comes to his Lord is when he is prostrating, so make much du'a." Each rak'ah has two prostrations.
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الأَعْلَى
Subhana rabbiyal-a'la
Glory be to my Lord, the Most High.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Going down into prostration, do the knees or the hands touch the ground first?
3 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Maliki.
Show each school
- Knees firstHanafi · Shafi'i · Hanbali
- Hands firstMaliki
- Hanafi
- The knees are placed first, then the hands, then the face, and the order is reversed when rising.
- Maliki
- It is recommended to place the hands before the knees when going down, and to lift them after the knees when rising.
- Shafi'i
- The knees are placed first, then the hands, then the forehead and nose.
- Hanbali
- In the relied-upon view the knees are placed first, then the hands; another narration from Ahmad has the hands first.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 812 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 828 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 772Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 482Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 789 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
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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