His statement, “and keeps his belly away from his thighs”: that is, he raises it above his thighs. Likewise, he raises his thighs above his shins. Thus, there are three matters:
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Keeping the upper arms away from the sides.
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Keeping the belly away from the thighs.
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Keeping the thighs away from the shins.
This is why the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Be moderate in prostration” (1)—that is, make your prostration balanced. Do not compress yourselves so that the belly rests upon the thighs and the thighs upon the shins; nor should you stretch yourselves out, as some people do when they prostrate, extending themselves until they nearly lie flat on the ground. There is no doubt that this is an innovation and not part of the sunnah. As far as we know, it is not established from the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, nor from the Companions, that a person should extend his back in prostration. Rather, extending the back is done while bowing. In prostration, however, he raises his belly and does not extend it.
His statement, “and separates his knees”: that is, he does not keep his knees together; rather, he separates them. As for the feet, the scholars differed regarding this.
Some scholars say that he should likewise separate his feet (2), because the feet follow the shins and the knees. Thus, if it is sunnah to separate the knees, then it should likewise be sunnah to separate the feet. Some jurists even specified that the distance between them should be a handspan.