Ibn Uthaymin
Sifat Salat al-Nabi - al-Uthaymin
- Author died
- 1421 AH
- Editions
- Sifat Salat al-Nabi - al-Uthaymin
Sifat Salat al-Nabi (The Description of the Prophet's Prayer ﷺ) is a concise legal treatise by the Saudi scholar Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin (d. 1421 AH / 2001 CE), outlining the complete manner and rulings of ritual prayer according to the prophetic Sunnah .
Spiritual Foundations and Beginning of Prayer
The work opens with an emphasis on the worshipper's inner presence before God, observing that standing in prayer is standing before One who knows secret thoughts and inner whisperings . The worshipper must direct the heart to God just as the body is directed to the qibla, recalling that God is before the worshipper's face while He is above His Throne, and that the worshipper is in intimate conversation with his Lord .
Prayer commences with the opening takbir (takbirat al-ihram), accompanied by raising the hands level with the shoulders or the earlobes, followed by placing the right hand over the left forearm . The worshipper keeps the gaze lowered toward the place of prostration and must not look up toward the sky, as raising the sight upward in prayer is strictly prohibited .
Opening Supplications and Recitation
Al-Uthaymin details the various authentic forms of the opening supplication (istiftah), including:
- اللهم باعد بيني وبين خطاياي كما باعدت بين المشرق والمغرب، اللهم نقني من الخطايا كما ينقى الثوب الأبيض من الدنس، اللهم اغسلني من خطاياي بالماء والثلج والبرد ("O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the East from the West; O Allah, cleanse me of sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth; O Allah, wash away my sins with water, snow, and hail") .
- سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك، وتبارك اسمك وتعالى جدك، ولا إله غيرك ("Glory and praise be to You, O Allah; blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no deity worthy of worship besides You") .
- The night prayer opening: اللهم رب جبرائيل وميكائيل وإسرافيل، فاطر السموات والأرض... ("O Allah, Lord of Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, Originator of the heavens and the earth...") .
He establishes an interpretive principle: when acts of worship are transmitted in multiple valid variants, the worshipper ought to alternate between them across different occasions rather than combine them . He identifies three key benefits for this approach: fulfilling the Sunnah in all its transmitted manners, preserving the transmitted Sunnah from being forgotten, and keeping the worshipper attentive rather than performing rituals out of unthinking habit .
Following refuge-seeking (isti'adha) and the basmalah—which he clarifies is an independent verse of the Quran at the start of every surah except Surat Bara'ah—the worshipper recites Surat al-Fatihah, followed by Amin . The subsequent Quranic recitation is divided according to the sections of the mufassal (from Surat Qaf to the end of the Quran): generally reciting from the shorter mufassal surahs in Maghrib, the longer ones in Fajr, and the intermediate ones in the remaining prayers .
Bowing, Prostration, and Sittings
In describing the physical movements of the prayer, al-Uthaymin addresses several legal and technical questions:
- Bowing (ruku'): The worshipper raises the hands with the takbir, places hands on the knees with fingers spread, keeps the back level with the head without arching, and repeats formulas such as سبحان ربي العظيم ("Glory be to my Lord, the Exalted") . Upon rising with the tasmi', the hands are raised and placed back upon the left forearm on the chest .
- Descending into Prostration (sujud): He maintains that the worshipper descends knees first, rather than hands first, interpreting the prohibition of kneeling like a camel as referring to the manner rather than the bodily organ, and citing Ibn al-Qayyim's analysis in Zad al-Ma'ad . Prostration must rest on seven body parts: forehead (including the nose), both hands, both knees, and the tips of both feet . The arms are kept off the ground and apart from the sides without overly flattening or overextending the back .
- Sitting Between Prostrations: The worshipper sits muftarishan (flat upon the left foot with the right foot upright) . The right hand rests on the right thigh or knee with the ring and little fingers clenched, the thumb and middle finger positioned together, and the index finger raised and moved during each sentence of supplication .
- Resting Sitting (jalsat al-istiraha): Reviewing the differing scholarly views, al-Uthaymin adopts the reconciling position of Ibn Qudamah in al-Mughni and Ibn al-Qayyim: that briefly sitting before rising to the second or fourth rak'ah is prescribed only in cases of need—such as bodily heaviness, illness, or old age—rather than unconditionally in every circumstance .
Tashahhud and Conclusion
For the first tashahhud, the worshipper sits in the same manner as between the two prostrations and recites the transmitted text (such as that of Ibn Mas'ud or Ibn Abbas) . In three- or four-rak'ah prayers, the worshipper stands for the remaining units, reciting only Surat al-Fatihah .
For the final tashahhud, the worshipper assumes the tawarruk position (resting the posterior on the ground), for which the author lists three valid transmitted descriptions . After sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, the worshipper seeks refuge in God from four specific trials: the torment of Hellfire, the torment of the grave, the trials of life and death, and the affliction of the False Messiah (al-Masih al-Dajjal) . Al-Uthaymin notes that the Successor Tawus considered this refuge-seeking obligatory to the extent of commanding one who omitted it to repeat the prayer . The prayer concludes with the taslim to both the right and the left .
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