Sujud (other)
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Sujūd (, ), or sajdah (, ), also known as sijda, sejda or shejda, in
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
is the act of low bowing or
prostration Prostration is the gesture of placing one's body in a reverentially or submissively prone position. Typically prostration is distinguished from the lesser acts of bowing or kneeling by involving a part of the body above the knee, especially t ...
to
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
facing the ''qiblah'' (direction of the
Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...
at
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
). It is usually done in standardized prayers (
salah ''Salah'' (, also spelled ''salat'') is the practice of formal worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as ''rak'ah'', include a specific s ...
). The position involves kneeling and bowing till one touches the ground with seven bones (points): the forehead and nose, two hands, two knees and two sets of toes. In accordance with the
Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
(the Way) of
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, one's elbows should be far from one's body, unless it causes discomfort to other worshippers, but not resting on the ground. Some scholars hold the position that this applies only to men, and that women are encouraged to tuck their elbows in out of
modesty Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word ''modesty'' comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means 'keeping with ...
.


Overview

Sujud (prostration) is one of the main pillars of daily prayer (
salah ''Salah'' (, also spelled ''salat'') is the practice of formal worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as ''rak'ah'', include a specific s ...
) in
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. A single act of sujud is called a sajdah (plural ''sajdāt''). Muslims do sujud several times in each prayer, depending on the number of '' raka'at'' of prayer: two sajadat are performed every raka'ah, and prayers vary in obligatory length between two and four raka'at (additional supererogatory raka'at are often performed as ''sunnah muakkadah'', or emulation of the example of Muhammad as represented in the
sahih Hadith terminology () is the body of terminology in Islam which specifies the acceptability of the sayings (''hadith'') attributed to the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad by other early Islamic figures of significance such as the compa ...
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
). A raka'ah is a unit of set actions that have to be performed in a prayer. The shortest ''
fard ' () or ' () or fardh in Islam is a religious duty commanded by God in Islam, God. The word is also used in Turkish language, Turkish, Persian language, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali language, Bangla (''spelled farz or faraz''), and Mal ...
'' (obligatory) Muslim prayer is that of '' fajr'', performed immediately before sunrise (two raka'ahs) and the shortest ever possible number of raka'ahs is in the ''witr'' prayer, which is considered Sunnah in the Maaliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali
Madhabs A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE and by the twelfth century almost all ...
(schools of Fiqh) and Wajib (compulsory) in the Hanafi madhab, with one needing an odd number of Rakats to complete the prayer, with 1 being valid in all madhabs but the Hanafi Madhab. The raka'ah can be described as follows: # Standing and saying
Allahu akbar Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), although the term was used in pre-Islamic Arabia ...
, reciting surah
al-Fatiha Al-Fatiha () is the first chapter () of the Quran. It consists of seven verses (') which consist of a prayer for guidance and mercy. Al-Fatiha is recited in Muslim obligatory and voluntary prayers, known as ''salah''. The primary literal mea ...
, and reciting a passage of the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
such as
sura A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...
al-Ikhlas Al-Ikhlāṣ (, "Sincerity"), also known as the Declaration of God's Unity and al-Tawhid (, "Monotheism"), is the 112th chapter (''sūrah'') of the Quran. According to George Sale, this chapter is held in particular veneration by Muslims, and dec ...
. # Performing
ruku' Rukūʿ (, ) is the act of belt-low bowing in standardized prayers, where the backbone should be at rest. In prayer, it refers to the bowing at the waist from standing ('' qiyām'') on the completion of recitation ('' qiraʾat'') of a por ...
(bowing down) without bending the knees and with hands resting on the knees, while reciting additional phrases to glorify Allah. # Standing up from bowing, and reciting further. # Going in prostration (sajdah) once, while reciting additional specific phrases to glorify Allah. # Lifting the face up from prostration but kneeling or sitting on the ground. # Performing a second prostration (sajdah). # Rising for the second, third, or fourth raka'ah. In the last raka'ah, one remains sitting and recites the
tashahhud The ''Tashahhud'' (, meaning "testimony
f Iman (concept), faith F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounce ...
), also known as at-Tahiyyat (), is the portion of the Salah, Muslim prayer where the person Sitting in salah, kneels or sits on the ground facing the ''qibla'' (direction of Mecca ...
, and then performs the
taslim ''Salah'' (, also spelled ''salat'') is the practice of formal ibadah, worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as rak'a, ''rak'ah'', include ...
by turning the head to the right and saying, ''
as-salamu alaikum ''As-salamu alaykum'' (, ), also written ''salamun alaykum'' and typically rendered in English as ''salam alaykum'', is a greeting in Arabic that means 'Peace be upon you'. The (, meaning 'peace') has become a religious salutation for Muslims ...
wa rahmatu Allah wa barakatuh'' ("may the peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you"), and then turning the head to the left and repeating the blessing to conclude the prayer. Points 1-7 define one raka'ah. Thus, the shortest prayer, that of fajr, contains four sajadat. For
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
s,
witr Witr () is an Islamic prayer (''salat'') that is performed at night after '' Isha'' (night-time prayer) or before '' fajr'' (dawn prayer). Witr has an odd number of '' raka'at'' prayed in pairs, with the final raka'ah prayed separately. Accord ...
prayer is three raka'ahs, which is for them considered
wajib ' () or ' () or fardh in Islam is a religious duty commanded by God. The word is also used in Turkish, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, Hindi, Bangla (''spelled farz or faraz''), and Malay (''spelled fardu or fardhu'') in the same meaning. Muslims wh ...
, a level of necessity below that of fard but above all else: in practice, this makes witr obligatory. While in sujud, the use of a
turbah A ''turbah'' (), or ''mohr'' (), also known as ''khāk-e shefā'' (, also used in Urdu) and ''sejde gāh'' (, also used in Urdu), is a small piece of soil or clay, often a clay tablet, used during salat () to symbolize earth. The use of a ''tur ...
(a small piece of soil or clay, often a clay tablet), on which a person places their forehead, is compulsory in most Shi'a schools of Islam.


Other types of sujud


Sajdah of thankfulness


Sajdah of recitation / Tilawah

During recitation (
tilawa The Tilawa () is a recitation of the successive verses of the Qur'ān in a standardized and proven manner according to the rules of the ten recitations. Presentation # The ''Tilawa'' of the Quran is given in terms and meanings, because the Qi ...
) of the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
, including individual and congregation prayers, there are fifteen places where Muslims believe, when Muhammad recited a certain verse ('' ayah''), he prostrated to God. The verses are: :۩ Q7:206, al Aʿrāf :۩ Q13:15, ar-Raʻd :۩ Q16:49, an-Nahl :۩ Q17:107, al-Isra :۩ Q19:58, Maryam :۩ Q22:18, al-Hajj Q22:77, al-Hajj :۩ Q25:60, al-Furqan :۩ Q27:25, an-Naml :۩ Q32:15, as-Sajda :۩ Q38:24, Ṣād :۩ Q41:37, Fussilat :۩ Q53:62, an-Najm :۩ Q84:21, al-Inshiqaq :۩ Q96:19, al-Alaq In most copies of the Qur'an these are indicated by the symbol ۩, with an over-line on the word/s that invoked the prostration. Muslims must prostrate once in order to follow the
Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
(example) of Muhammad and recite any one or more of the following along with Takbeer before and after the sujud,


Sajdah of forgetfulness

Sujud Sahwi or Sajdah of forgetfulness occurs during the ritual ''salat'' prayer. Out of forgetfulness a person can either omit obligatory parts of salat (Qabli) or add to the salat (Ba'adi). In either cases the person corrects their salat by doing the Sujud Sahwi.


Rule of direction of the prostration

Sujud is made only to God. In prayer, Muslims face the
Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...
in
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
, Saudi Arabia.


See also

*
Sujud Sahwi Sujud Sahwi or Sajdah of forgetfulness occurs during the ritual salat prayer. Out of forgetfulness a person can either omit obligatory parts of salat (Qabli) or add to the salat (Ba'adi). In either cases the person corrects his/her salat by doing ...
*''
Zemnoy poklon The different kinds of bows one could encounter at an Eastern Orthodox service are shown in the drawing below. Strict rules exist as to which type of a bow should be used at any particular time. The rules are very complicated, and are not alw ...
'', earth-low bowing in the Eastern Orthodox Church originating from Jewish low bowing *
Proskynesis Proskynesis (), also called proscynesis () or proskinesis (; ; ), was a solemn gesture of respect towards gods and people in many societies. Among the Persians, it referred to a man prostrating himself and kissing the land or the limbs of a r ...
*
Dogeza is an element of traditional Japanese etiquette which involves kneeling directly on the ground and bowing to prostrate oneself while touching one's head to the floor.Leaman, Olive''Friendship East and West: philosophical perspectives''p. 74 It ...
, prostration in Japanese culture *
Kowtow A kowtow () is the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. In East Asian cultural sphere, Sinospheric culture, the kowtow is the highest sign of reverence. It w ...
, prostration in Chinese culture


References


External links


USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts


{{Authority control Salah Typography Gestures of respect Bowing Kneeling Salah terminology