Sujūd
Definition
Sujud — prostration — is the act of bowing with the forehead to the ground in total submission to a superior. When Allah commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam, it was not an act of worship directed at Adam but an acknowledgment of the divine command and the honor Allah had bestowed upon this new creation. Ibn Kathir carefully distinguishes this prostration from the prostration of worship: the former is an act of deference and acknowledgment, the latter belongs to God alone. The moment of sujud establishes that human dignity is real and God-given — sufficient to command angelic acknowledgment.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
2 books in the library
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