Does the Hadith of the Sun’s Prostration Bear on the Earth’s Rotation?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

In Sahih al-Bukhari 3199, it says that the sun will prostrate, but the prostration will be rejected. Will this also affect the Earth’s rotation, or something else?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate

You read the text closely and then follow it out to its consequences. That is exactly the right instinct, and it is rarer than you would think.

Here, it has run into a hidden assumption, and naming that assumption is most of the answer.

The short Answer

No. The report does not describe an event in the seen order of things such that it would show up in the mechanics of planetary motion. It is a report about the unseen, and it is not the kind of statement that competes with an account of how the earth turns.

What the Report Actually Says

Abu Dharr (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to him at sunset: “Do you know where it goes? … It goes until it prostrates beneath the Throne, then it seeks permission and is given permission.

And a time is near when it will prostrate, and it will not be accepted from it, and it will seek permission and not be given it, and it will be told: Return whence you came. So it will rise from its west. And that is His saying, ‘And the sun runs to a resting place appointed for it: that is the ordaining of the Almighty, the All-knowing.’” [Sahih al-Bukhari 3199]

The narration is in the Sahih. The question is not whether it is sound. The question is how it is read.

The Assumption to Examine

Your question contains a premise: that the sun’s prostration is an event of the same order as the earth’s rotation (a physical motion, in physical space, occupying physical time), such that adding one would have to disturb the other.

That premise is what needs testing, not the hadith. And the commentators tested it a thousand years ago.

How the Commentators Read It

Ibn Hajar sets out the range of readings without insisting on one. He cites Ibn al-Arabi (“Some people denied its prostration, though it is sound and possible”), then notes that others took it as its permanent state of subjection, and adds his own:

“It is possible that what is meant by the prostration is the prostration of the angel charged with it; or that it prostrates by the state it is in, so that the expression signifies an increase in submission and humility at that moment.” [Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari]

Three different readings, all orthodox, none of which touch celestial mechanics.

Imam Khattabi, whom Ibn Hajar quotes on the matter, puts the epistemic point cleanly: it may be that the sun rests beneath the Throne in a manner that we do not encompass. [Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari]

And Ibn Kathir directly addresses the physical objection.

He notes that the scholars had long held the heavens to be spherical, and that nothing in this hadith says the sun ascends above the heavens to prostrate; rather, it sets from our sight while continuing in its own orbit, and when it reaches the point furthest from the Throne, that is the place of its prostration. [Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, cited in Qastallani, Irshad al-Sari]

Note what that settles. Even on the most literal reading available in the tradition, the report describes nothing that interrupts the sun’s course.

And When the Sun’s Prostration is Not Accepted?

The report describes the end of the world’s ordinary course, when the sun rises from the west. That is a sign of the Hour.

At that point, the question of whether the earth still rotates as it does today is no longer a live one: the ordinary order is precisely what is being wound up. So there is no consequence to trace back into physics from a moment that lies past the end of the physical order as we have it.

The Larger Habit that Will Serve You Past this One Question

Reports about the unseen are received, not reverse-engineered. Allah Most High says, “And His alone are the keys to the unseen, unknown to any but Him.” [Quran 6:59; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Imam Tahawi states the posture the scholars have always taken toward such reports: “No one is safe in his religion but one who submits to Allah Mighty and Majestic and to His Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), and refers the knowledge of what is unclear to him back to the One who knows it… And the foot of Islam is not firm except upon the back of submission and surrender.”

He then adds the warning that fits your question: “Whoever seeks the knowledge of what has been withheld from him, and whose understanding is not content with submission, his seeking veils him from pure monotheism, clear knowledge, and sound belief.” [Tahawi, al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya]

That is not a bar on thinking. It is a boundary marker. It says: some reports give you a fact about the unseen without giving you its mechanism, and pressing them for a mechanism produces confusion rather than knowledge.

Three Questions for the Next One

When a hadith seems to collide with something you know, run these in order.

One. Is the report sound? Here, yes: it is in the Sahih, so this is settled.

Two. Is the thing it seems to collide with actually established, or is it my own inference? Here it was an inference: that the prostration must be a physical event in the seen order.

Three. Am I reading the text in its own register, or forcing another frame onto it? Here, the register is the unseen, and the frame being imported is celestial mechanics.

Run those three, and this tension dissolves, as most do.

Let this report do what it was given to do. It is telling you that the largest, most indifferent-looking thing in your sky is a servant, under command, asking permission, and that one day permission will be refused. That is a lesson about your Lord and about the end, and it lands on the heart, not on the orbital calculation.

And Allah knows best.

[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani

Related SeekersGuidance Answers

What Should We Do When Science and Hadith Seem to Differ?  The three questions to ask of any apparent conflict, and why a sound report and an established fact never collide.

– Does the Hadith of the Angels at Sunrise and Sunset Support a Flat Earth? The closest parallel in the archive: a report about sunrise and sunset that turns out to carry no cosmological claim at all.

– Hadiths at Odds with Science— Shaykh Farid Dingle on Islamic epistemology: what counts as knowledge, what counts as confidence, and how the two are weighed.

– Is There a Contradiction in the Two Sahih Reports on Creation? — The scholars’ order of operations when two authentic reports appear to conflict, and why creed rests on certainties and stays open elsewhere.

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani is a recognized specialist scholar in the Islamic sciences, having studied under leading scholars from around the world. He is the Founder and Executive Director of SeekersGuidance.

Shaykh Faraz stands as a distinguished figure in Islamic scholarship. His journey in seeking knowledge is marked by dedication and depth. He spent ten years studying under some of the most revered scholars of our times. His initial studies took place in Damascus. He then continued in Amman, Jordan.

In Damascus, he was privileged to learn from the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas. Shaykh Adib al-Kallas was renowned as the foremost theologian of his time. Shaykh Faraz also studied under Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi in Damascus. Shaykh Hassan is recognized as one of the leading Hanafi jurists of our era.

Upon completing his studies, Shaykh Faraz returned to Canada in 2007. His return marked a new chapter in his service to the community. He founded SeekersGuidance. The organization reflects his commitment to spreading Islamic knowledge. It aims to be reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible. This mission addresses both online and on-the-ground needs.

Shaykh Faraz is also an accomplished author. His notable work includes “Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School.” This book, published by White Thread Press in 2004, is a significant contribution to Islamic literature.

His influence extends beyond his immediate community. Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been recognized as one of the 500 most influential Muslims. This recognition comes from the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center. It underscores his impact on the global Islamic discourse.

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani’s life and work embody a profound commitment to Islamic scholarship. His teachings continue to enlighten and guide seekers of knowledge worldwide.

«النصوص» — Source texts

عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ لِأَبِي ذَرٍّ حِينَ غَرَبَتِ الشَّمْسُ: «تَدْرِي أَيْنَ تَذْهَبُ؟» قُلْتُ: اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ. قَالَ: «فَإِنَّهَا تَذْهَبُ حَتَّى تَسْجُدَ تَحْتَ الْعَرْشِ، فَتَسْتَأْذِنَ فَيُؤْذَنَ لَهَا، وَيُوشِكُ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ فَلَا يُقْبَلَ مِنْهَا، وَتَسْتَأْذِنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَنَ لَهَا، يُقَالُ لَهَا: ارْجِعِي مِنْ حَيْثُ جِئْتِ، فَتَطْلُعُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا، فَذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَهَا ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ﴾»

[البخاري، صحيح البخاري — رقم ٣١٩٩]

قَالَ ابْنُ الْعَرَبِيِّ: أَنْكَرَ قَوْمٌ سُجُودَهَا وَهُوَ صَحِيحٌ مُمْكِنٌ، وَتَأَوَّلَهُ قَوْمٌ عَلَى مَا هِيَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ التَّسْخِيرِ الدَّائِمِ، وَلَا مَانِعَ أَنْ تَخْرُجَ عَنْ مَجْرَاهَا فَتَسْجُدَ ثُمَّ تَرْجِعَ. قُلْتُ: إِنْ أَرَادَ بِالْخُرُوجِ الْوُقُوفَ فَوَاضِحٌ، وَإِلَّا فَلَا دَلِيلَ عَلَى الْخُرُوجِ، وَيُحْتَمَلُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمُرَادُ بِالسُّجُودِ سُجُودَ مَنْ هُوَ مُوَكَّلٌ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ، أَوْ تَسْجُدُ بِصُورَةِ الْحَالِ، فَيَكُونُ عِبَارَةً عَنِ الزِّيَادَةِ فِي الِانْقِيَادِ وَالْخُضُوعِ فِي ذَلِكَ الْحِينِ.

[ابن حجر العسقلاني، فتح الباري ٦/٢٩٩]

قَالَ الْخَطَّابِيُّ: يُحْتَمَلُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمُرَادُ بِاسْتِقْرَارِهَا تَحْتَ الْعَرْشِ أَنَّهَا تَسْتَقِرُّ تَحْتَهُ اسْتِقْرَارًا لَا نُحِيطُ بِهِ نَحْنُ.

[ابن حجر العسقلاني، فتح الباري ٨/٥٤٢]

قَالَ ابْنُ كَثِيرٍ: وَقَدْ حَكَى ابْنُ حَزْمٍ وَغَيْرُ وَاحِدٍ مِنَ الْعُلَمَاءِ الْإِجْمَاعَ عَلَى أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ كُرِيَّةٌ مُسْتَدِيرَةٌ… وَلَا تَعَارُضَ بَيْنَ هَذَا وَبَيْنَ الْحَدِيثِ، وَلَيْسَ فِيهِ أَنَّ الشَّمْسَ تَصْعَدُ إِلَى فَوْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ حَتَّى تَسْجُدَ تَحْتَ الْعَرْشِ، بَلْ هِيَ تَغْرُبُ عَنْ أَعْيُنِنَا وَهِيَ مُسْتَمِرَّةٌ فِي فَلَكِهَا الَّذِي هِيَ فِيهِ… فَإِذَا ذَهَبَتْ فِيهِ حَتَّى تَتَوَسَّطَهُ… فَإِنَّهَا تَكُونُ أَبْعَدَ مَا تَكُونُ تَحْتَ الْعَرْشِ… وَهَذَا مَحَلُّ سُجُودِهَا كَمَا يُنَاسِبُهَا.

[ابن كثير، البداية والنهاية — نقلًا عن القسطلاني، إرشاد الساري لشرح صحيح البخاري]

فَإِنَّهُ مَا سَلِمَ فِي دِينِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ سَلَّمَ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَلِرَسُولِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَرَدَّ عِلْمَ مَا اشْتَبَهَ عَلَيْهِ إِلَى عَالِمِهِ. وَلَا تَثْبُتُ قَدَمُ الْإِسْلَامِ إِلَّا عَلَى ظَهْرِ التَّسْلِيمِ وَالِاسْتِسْلَامِ، فَمَنْ رَامَ عِلْمَ مَا حُظِرَ عَنْهُ عِلْمُهُ، وَلَمْ يَقْنَعْ بِالتَّسْلِيمِ فَهْمُهُ، حَجَبَهُ مَرَامُهُ عَنْ خَالِصِ التَّوْحِيدِ، وَصَافِي الْمَعْرِفَةِ، وَصَحِيحِ الْإِيمَانِ.

[الطحاوي، العقيدة الطحاوية]