Step 10 of 14
Sitting between the Two Prostrations
Say "Allahu akbar" and rise from the first prostration to sit upright, resting on your left foot with your right foot upright, as 'A'ishah described the Prophet ﷺ sitting. Sit until you are at ease, as he taught the man who prayed badly.
In this sitting Hudhayfah heard the Prophet ﷺ say "Rabbighfir li, rabbighfir li", My Lord, forgive me; my Lord, forgive me.
Then say "Allahu akbar" and make the second prostration just like the first. Then say "Allahu akbar" and stand up for the next rak'ah, which you pray like the first, beginning with al-Fatihah.
رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي
Rabbighfir li, rabbighfir li
My Lord, forgive me. 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 Muslim 498Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 6251 Sahih · 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
- 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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