Is It Problematic to Have My Toes Elevated during the Prostration and to Prostrate on My Veil?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

I have the following two questions:

1. If BOTH my feet are lifted off the ground during sujood, for just a moment and immediately placed back on the ground, is Salah Valid?
2. When going for sujood, if my big hijab gets in the way and my forehead is placed on the hijab rather than the prayer mat, is Salah still valid? I am on hard ground when prostrating, but my big jilbab sometimes gets in the way.

Answer

I pray this finds you in the best of states.
1. Yes, your prayer is valid because you have at least for one moment placed a toe of each foot on the ground. This is enough to ensure the validity of the prostration and the prayer. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]What would invalidate the prayer would be to have both of your feet elevated for the full duration of the prostration when your forehead was on the ground. [ibid]

2. Yes, your prayer remains valid despite having your veil between your forehead and the ground because you can still feel the bulk and the resistance of the ground and because the ground underneath was pure. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Nonetheless, it is disliked to do so without excuse. [ibid]

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We were with the Messenger of Allah (Blessings and Peace be upon him), and we would put a part of our clothing at the place of prostration because of the intensity of the heat” [Bukhari]

And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching for ways to learn Islam reliably and was disappointed at the answers he found locally. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.