—just like the standing that precedes bowing—for he kept to it without fail and said: “Pray as you have seen me pray.”

The seventh pillar is prostration (sujūd). It consists of placing the forehead on the ground and must be performed on the seven limbs, twice in every rakʿah, for Allah says, “…and prostrate” (Q 22:77). Numerous hadiths also relay the Prophet’s command, practice, and statement: “Pray as you have seen me pray.” The seven limbs are the forehead—together with the nose—the two hands, the two knees, and the tips of the two feet; each of these must touch the ground, as far as one is able. Sujūd is the greatest of the prayer’s pillars, and the servant is never closer to his Lord than when prostrating; therefore, the finest state a person can attain is this nearness to Allah found in sujūd.

The eighth pillar is rising from prostration and sitting between the two prostrations. ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “When the Prophet raised his head from prostration, he would not return to it until he was sitting upright.” Muslim recorded this hadith.