PROSTRATION - SAJDAH

 

The root word of Sajdah is Sajad. The word Sajdah and its derivatives has been used in the Glorious Quran 92 times. Sajdah is the “Me’raj” (Ascension) of a believer. Sajdah is the act of submitting ourselves in complete humility, and it is performed only to Allah. There is a complete Surah al-Sajdah in the Glorious Quran. There are more than 14 Ayahs pertaining to Sajdah, some of them are: Surah al-Ra’d Ayah 15, “To Allah prostrates whoever there is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows at sunrise and sunset.” Surahal-Isra’ Ayahs 107 to 109, “Say, ‘Whether you believe in it, or do not believe in it, indeed those who were given knowledge before it when it is recited to them, fall down in prostration on their faces, and say, “Immaculate is our Lord! Indeed, Our Lord’s promise is bound to be fulfilled.” Weeping, they fall down on their faces, and it increases them in humility.”  Surah al-Hajj Ayah 18 says, “Have you not regarded that to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and the sun, the moon, and the stars, the mountains, the trees, and the animals and many of mankind.”

Surah al-Hijr Ayah 28 to 31, “When your Lord said to the angels, Indeed I am going to create a human out of a dry (drawn) from an aging mud. So, when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, then fall in prostration (Sajdah of respect) before him. There at the angels prostrated, all of them together, but not Iblees (Shaitan): he refused to be among those who prostrated he was the first creature to show pride and superiority.

Similarly, in the court of Pharaoh, his magicians performed their act of converting ropes into snakes, Allah ordered Prophet Musa to throw what was in his hand. As soon as he threw the rod on ground, it miraculously converted into a huge snake which swallowed the magician’s snakes. Surah TA-HA Ayah 70, “Then the sorcerers fell down in prostration, saying: We believed in the Lord of Harun (Aron) and Musa (Moses)!”

Prayers is the condition when a Muslim is nearest to his Creator. Nearness here does not mean physical nearness because the Creator does not have a physical existence. He is Light (Noor).

 Imam Ali (a.s.) was born in Holy Ka’ba, the House of Allah towards which millions of Muslims are performing daily prayers facing that House. Imam Ali (a.s.) was martyred in Masjid al-Kufa while performing his morning prayers. During his lifetime, he is reported to recite recommended salaat in the night that neighbors would hear “Takbir” one thousand times every night. Even during the battles, he would perform salaat. The Chief of Martyrs, the Infallible Imam Husayn (a.s.) after sacrificing his entire family in Karbala was slaughtered while he was in prostration after being deprived of food and water for three days.

The Thinker of Pakistan, the poet of the East, Allama Iqbal (r.a.) said in a couplet.

     Islam ke daman mein bus iske siwa kiya hai        Ek Zarb-e-Yadullahi, Ek Sajdah-e-Shabbiri

(There are only two things in the survival of Islam: the Zulfiqar of Imam Ali (a.s.) and Sajdah of Imam Husayn (a.s.)

    Ye Ek Sajdah jese tu Giran Samajta Hai                Hazar Sajdaun se deta hai Adami ko Najaat

(O Muslim! You want to escape 5 times prayers which saves you from humiliations in different walks of life)

In sajdah seven parts of our body must touch the earth: the forehead, the palms, knees, toes. The forehead should be placed on pure earth and the “Khak-e-Shifa” made from thesoil of the Sayyid-us-Shuhada, Imam Husayn (a.s.)’s grave is the purest of all.

The Infallible Imam Ali ibnal Husayn (a.s.) is also called “Sayyid as-Sajideen”” Master of Prostrators”. The Imam used to perform an enormous number of Sajdah that periodically the signs of prostration had to be cut and removed from his forehead! When people praised him for excessive prostration, he in turn praised his grandfather the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (a.s.) who was far more pious than him!

Sajdah is the peak of humility and submission to our Creator and the Sustainer Allah (s.w.t.)

Sources: Tafsir -e- Namoonah by Ayatullah Naser Makarem Shirazi, The Qur’an (English) by Ali Quli Qara’i

                  The Reliance of the Secrets of Prayers by Allama Muhsin Qara’ti