What is the length of sajdah (prostration) in prayer? They say it is necessary to remain in prostration long enough to say, "Lailahaillallah"; I sometimes think I do not remain long enough.

What is the length of sajdah (prostration) in prayer? They say it is necessary to remain in prostration long enough to say, "Lailahaillallah"; I sometimes think I do not remain long enough. In that case, is it necessary to perform the prayer again or is prostration of forgetfulness enough?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is sunnah to say "subhana rabbiyal a'la" three times in prostration. However, it is fard to wait long enough to say Subhanallah once. A sajdah that is shorter than that is not valid. The prayer becomes invalidated and it becomes necessary to perform it again. 

As for the issue of how long to remain in sajdah, according to Hanafis, who hold the view that it is necessary to remain in prostration long enough to say "subhana rabbiyal a'la" three times as it is stated in the hadith, it is possible and mustahab to say it five, seven or nine times (an odd number). The Prophet (pbuh) states the following regarding the issue:

"The moment of a person in prostration is the moment when he is closest to his Lord; therefore, increase prayer in prostration." (Abu Dawud, II/33).

According to what is understood from those hadiths, sajdah (and salah) is not a static, narrow-framed bodily movement encompassed with definite molds; it is a valuable moment when a Muslim says prayers as much and long as he can in the way Allah and His Messenger taught with a sincere heart by saving himself from the conditioned rules. He should remain in prostration for a long time and shed tears as the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) did when necessary. Prayer should be saved from dry, bodily movements so that functions would be placed in the depth of his spirit and they would make man approach Allah.

The issues to take into consideration between two prostrations:

It is necessary not to perform prostrations very quickly and "not to hurry like a crow pecking at things on the ground" as the Messenger of Allah puts it. It is contrary to the manners of prayer to hurry to prostrate after the first prostration without sitting properly first. According to Hanafi madhhab, it is necessary to sit by erecting the right foot on the toes and by bending the left foot inward between two prostrations. The second prostration is performed after one sits long enough to say "subhanallah" once. During this sitting, the hands are placed on the knees and the eyes look at the place of prostration. These rules of Hanafi madhhab are based on the hadiths of the Prophet (pbuh).

(Fedakâr KlZMAZ, Şamil İslam Ansiklopedisi)

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