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.
How the scholars use Sujūd.
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"thumbs at the earlobes, and fingertips at the tops of the ears, then letting them fall after raising, placing the right hand over the left below the navel, looking at the place of prostration, reciting aloud and saying, Ameen, reciting silently, placing the hands on the knees in bowing, straightening the back, keeping the arms away from the sides in bowing, starting with the knees, then the hands in prostration, keeping the stomach away from the thighs, and the thighs from the calves in prostration, separating the knees in prostration, placing the hands at shoulder level in prostration, sitting on the left foot in prostration between the two prostrations,"
— Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Al-Ghunya li-Ṭālibī Ṭarīq al-Ḥaqq — Volume One
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"This compelled prostration differs from the prostration mentioned in His words: "Do you not see that to اللّٰه prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the moving creatures, and many of the people?" Here, He specifies many of the people with prostration and includes them in the prostration in سُورَة النَّحْل: "And to اللّٰه prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of creatures, and the angels [as well]." This is the prostration of humility, subjugation, and submission, for everyone is submissive to His lordship, humbled by His might, and subdued under His sovereignty, exalted is He."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume One
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"For specific prostration, اللّٰه says: "Indeed, those who are near your Lord are not prevented by arrogance from His worship, and they exalt Him, and to Him they prostrate." And He says: "When the verses of the Most Merciful were recited to them, they fell in prostration and weeping." This is also frequently mentioned in the القُرْآن. Regarding general prostration, اللّٰه says: "And to اللّٰه prostrates whoever is within the heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion, and their shadows [as well] in the mornings and the afternoons.""
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume One
Appears in
2 books in the library
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