Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
For Hanafis, what is the required position for the feet when one goes into/ or is in sujud? My sister recently got married, and her husband is Shafi’i. He says that the salat is nullified in the Shafi’i madhab if their feet are not in a certain position during sujud. Could you clarify the Hanafis on this?
Assalamu alaikum,
It is a confirmed sunna in the Hanafi school to point the bottom of one’s toes toward the qibla. Not doing so, without an excuse, is blameworthy and leaving this habitually is a sin, for it entails leaving the inveterate practice of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). It is obligatory (fard), however, to have at least on toe on the ground, if only for a moment, in prostration, and necessary (wajib) to place one toe from each foot on the ground, even if only for a moment.
At a deen intensive in CA, I was taught that in the Hanafi madhab, one does NOT recite any Qur’anic suras (including the Fatiha) when praying behind an imam in a jama’ prayer (i.e., not even moving one’s lips). Is this correct?
Yes. It is prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman) to recite anything of the Qur’an behind the imam, even in the quiet prayers. However, one still reads all the invocations of the prayer. This is the transmitted madhhab of at least 80 of the major Companions, including most of the fuqaha among them, as recorded by Imam al-Tahawi and others, and is a very strong position in terms of evidence.
For details, in English, see the article on the proofs of the Hanafi prayer on Sidi Mas’ud Khan’s excellent website, http://www.masud.co.uk, or check out The Prayer of the Believer According to the Qur’an and Sunna, a very useful book on the proofs of the Hanafi prayer.
You’ll find some useful related answers on the Hanafi List website:http://www.SunniPath.com
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani.