281 – On the authority of Abū Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him): “Whenever something that pleased him came to the Prophet ﷺ, he would fall down in prostration to Allah.” It was narrated by the Five, except al-Nasāʾī (1).
Degree of authenticity:
It was recorded by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, and al-Bayhaqī. Al-Tirmidhī said: “It is good and singular (ḥasan gharīb).”
Within its chain stands Bakkār ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Bakrah al-Thaqafī. Al-ʿUqaylī and others judged him weak, while Ibn Maʿīn said, “Acceptable,” and Ibn ʿAddī remarked, “I hope there is no harm in him.” He is among the weak narrators whose reports are still written down, and al-ʿUqaylī listed him in al-Ḍuʿafāʾ.
The ḥadith has supporting reports: from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf with Aḥmad, from Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ with Abū Dāwūd, and in this regard also from Jābir, Ibn ʿUmar, and Anas. Abū Bakr prostrated when Musaylimah was killed, and Kaʿb ibn Mālik prostrated when he received the glad tidings of his acceptance of repentance. Allah knows best.
Points derived from the ḥadith:
- The report establishes a prostration called “the prostration of gratitude” (sujūd al-shukr). It is recommended whenever a new blessing is bestowed or a calamity is averted, whether that concern is personal to the worshipper or shared by the Muslims at large.
- Its ruling is the same as the prostration of recitation. Whoever considers the latter a prayer likewise treats this as a prayer, subject to the requirements of prayer such as ritual purity, facing the qiblah, the opening takbīr, the salām, and other rulings; and whoever does not regard the prostration of recitation as a prayer—like Ibn Taymiyyah