Sujud

Sujud (Arabic: سُجُود, romanized: sujūd, pronounced [sʊˈdʒuːd]), or sajdah (سَجْدَة, [ˈsadʒ.da]), also known as sijda, sejda or shejda, in Islam is the act of low bowing or prostration to God facing the qiblah (direction of the Kaaba at Mecca). It is usually done in standardized prayers (salah). 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 (the Way) of Muhammad, 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.

Overview

Sujud (prostration) is one of the main pillars of daily prayer (salah) in Islam. A single act of sujud is called a sajdah (plural sajdāt). Muslims perform sujud several times during 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). A raka'ah is a unit of set actions that have to be performed in a prayer. The shortest fard (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 (schools of Fiqh) and Wajib (compulsory) in the Hanafi madhab, with one needing an odd number of Rakats to complete the prayer, with one being valid in all madhabs but the Hanafi Madhab.