238 – Ibn Buhaynah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “When the Prophet ﷺ prayed and went into prostration, he would separate his arms so widely that the whiteness of his armpits became visible.” Agreed upon. (1)

Vocabulary of the ḥadīth
• farrāja – with an open fa, a doubled rāʾ, and ending in a jīm; it means to space something out, each hand being moved away from the side nearest to it.
• al-ibṭ – “armpit.” It has several pronunciations; the best is with a kasrah on the bāʾ. Plural: ʾābāṭ. It may be treated as masculine or feminine. It refers to the hollow beneath the shoulder and upper arm.

Points derived from the ḥadīth

1. The Sunnah when prostrating is to open a wide gap between one’s arms, to the extent that the whiteness of the armpits could be seen.
2. Prostrating in this manner is recommended because it denotes vigor and strength. The Exalted said, “Hold fast to what We have given you with strength” (al-Baqarah 63).
3. Al-Rawd al-Murbiʿ and its commentary state: “The worshipper in prostration should distance his upper arms from his flanks, his abdomen from his thighs, and his thighs from his shanks, so long as he does not cause discomfort to the person next to him. Thus each limb engages in its own act of devotion, and the posture differs from that of the indolent.”
4. Ustadh Ṭabārah said: “The prayer is a compulsory religious exercise for every Muslim, performed five times a day without fatigue or strain. If we study the movements of the prayer, we find a resemblance to the Swedish system of gymnastics; indeed, the movement of the body during prayer is more precise and more beneficial for every age and gender.”