Step 5 of 13
Bowing (ruku')
After the recitation the one praying says "Allahu akbar" and bows, bending at the waist with the hands on the knees. Allah says, ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ارْكَعُوا وَاسْجُدُوا﴾ (“O you who believe, bow and prostrate.”)
Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi described how the Prophet ﷺ placed his hands on his knees and kept his back level. 'A'ishah said that when he bowed he neither raised his head nor let it drop, but kept it level between the two.
In the bowing the Prophet ﷺ glorified Allah, saying "Subhana rabbiyal-'azim", Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great.
All four schools agree on this step.
- Qur'an 22:77
- Sahih al-Bukhari 757 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 828 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 498Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan Abi Dawud 874 Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: SahihSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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