Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
As salamu aleykum,
I read in the book Halabi Kebir on page 315 that it is a sunnah in prayer to join your left foot to your right foot when going to ruku (one should thus keep his heels together in state of ruku, when rising from ruku and when going to sajdah and in sajdah, when going from sajdah to qiyam one must separate his foots)
I read this also in Durr al Muktar Volume 1 page 320 (section sunnah of prayers) and in Ibn Abidin Volume 1 Page 299-321
Only Ibn Abidin is not clear in what he is suggesting about it, he is saying maybe this is a mistake and it should be only in sajdah.
I also know that only in sajdah one can join his feets together.
What is the truth on this?Please clarify
Was salaam
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.
Some of the texts of the school do, indeed, suggest joining the feet during bowing (as well as the agreed-upon recommendation of doing so during prostration). This is the position taken in the texts that you quote.
Other scholars of verification questioned this for a number of reasons, including:
* This is not something mentioned in the early works of the Hanafi school, nor mentioned in most of the major reference-works;
* The first person to mention this is someone whose accuracy has been questioned;
* The basis of prayer is stillness, and this entails an extra movement.
My own teachers inclined towards the latter position (that joining feet when bowing isn’t recommended), but admitted that, “There is much leeway regarding this.”
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani