Surah Sad: Prostration, Hanafis, and Aqida

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

The ‘Problem’

According to the Shafi‘i school, the prostration of verse 24 of Surah Sad (chapter 38 of the Qur’an) is not a prostration of Qur’an-recital (sajdatu’l-tilawa) but rather a prostration of thankfulness (sajdatu’l-shukr).  Performing a prostration of thankfulness during the prayer invalidates one’s prayer, so if one recites this verse while praying, one may not prostrate.

In the Hanafi school, however, the prostration of this verse is a prostration of Qur’an-recital and it is necessary (wajib) to prostrate during the prayer if one recites it during the prayer.  This can result in a seemingly problematic situation if a Shafi‘i prays behind a Hanafi who recites this verse.

The Solution

Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (Allah have mercy on him) mentions in his Tuhfa that if one is praying behind a Hanafi Imam who prostrates for this verse, one has one of two options: (1) one can either stop following him and complete one’s prayer on one’s own, or (2) one can wait for him to stand back up from the prostration and then continue praying behind him, without this affecting the validity of one’s prayer.  Imam Muhammad al-Ramli (Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in his Nihaya that to wait for him to stand back up is the superior of the two options.

Outside the Prayer

If one recites this verse outside the prayer, it is sunna to prostrate after reciting it, not because it is a verse that calls for the Qur’an-recital prostration, but out of gratitude to Allah for accepting the repentance of our master, the Prophet Dawud (upon him be blessings and peace).

An ‘Aqida Point

Imam Ibn Hajar—a staunch follower of the Ash‘ari school in his ‘aqida, just like all the major fuqaha of the Shafi‘i school—clarifies at this point in his Tuhfa that the repentance of our master, the Prophet Dawud (upon him be blessings and peace) was not out of committing a sin (since the soundest position in the Ash‘ari school is that prophets are divinely protected from committing major or minor sins before or after prophethood), but rather because he did something that was ‘better not to do’ (khilaf al-awla).  He said:

“[We prostrate] out of thankfulness that He accepted the repentance of His prophet Dawud (Allah bless our prophet and him and give them both peace) from the khilaf al-awla that he committed that was not becoming of the exaltedness of his perfection.  This is because he—like all prophets (Allah bless them all and give them peace)—was divinely protected from the blemish of all sins (AH: meaning major or minor, before prophethood or after it, on purpose or out of forgetfulness), in stark contrast to what is present in many tafsirs (AH: that he sent his minister to battle and placed him at the front of the army so that he might be killed), all of which is obligatory to shun because it has not been authenticated.  Even if it were authenticated, it would be obligatory to interpret it figuratively because their being divinely protected from sins has been established and because it is obligatory to believe that they are above such base matters that aren’t even committed by the lowest of the righteous of this nation.  [This being the case,] how should it be with those that Allah has chosen for His prophethood, made fitting for His messengerhood, and made intermediaries (wasita) between Him and between His creation.” (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj + Hashiya of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hamid, 2.206)

Imam Ibn Hajar (Allah have mercy on him) later mentions that the khilaf al-awla that our master Dawud (upon him be blessings and peace) did was that he thought to himself that if his minister (wazir) were to die, he would marry his wife.  This is not a sin, but because of the exaltedness of their rank, Allah takes His prophets to task for such actions.

(Tuhfat al-Muhtaj + Hashiya of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hamid, 2.205-208)

And Allah knows best.

Hamza Karamali.