Hadith 241 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sitting cross-legged (mutarabbʿan).” Narrated by al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Khuzaymah declared it authentic. (1)

Hadith status: The report is sound. Al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Khuzaymah both transmitted the wording, “He ﷺ would sit cross-legged.” Al-Nasāʾī initially critiqued it because Abū Dāwūd al-Ḥafrī alone reported it and remarked, “I think it is nothing but a mistake.” Yet Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Aṣbahānī supplied a corroborating chain in al-Bayhaqī; he is a trustworthy, firmly established narrator. Al-Ḥākim graded the hadith authentic and al-Dhahabī agreed ⦗1/41⦘. It was likewise authenticated by Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Ḥibbān ⦗6/257⦘, and al-Bayhaqī ⦗2/305⦘. Additional supporting reports come from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr and from Anas, both recorded by al-Bayhaqī.

Vocabulary:
mutarabbʿan (sitting cross-legged): to sit while drawing the shins upward, crossing the feet so that one leg rests over the other, with the sole of the right foot tucked under the left thigh and the sole of the left foot under the right thigh.

Points derived from the hadith:
1 – Sitting cross-legged consists in placing the sole of the right foot beneath the left thigh and the sole of the left foot beneath the right thigh. The Prophet ﷺ assumed this posture after falling from his horse and dislocating his foot.
2 – The hadith explains how someone who is ill should sit if he performs the prayer while seated.
3 – The cross-legged posture is confined to the sitting that replaces the standing of a healthy worshipper; it is not prescribed for every