its knees when it goes down to the ground. Whoever asserted that a camel’s “knee” lies in its fore-legs is mistaken, in clear error, and at variance with the statements of the foremost lexicographers.

I add: This ḥadīth was also transmitted by ʿAbdullāh ibn Nāfiʿ, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan, from Abū al-Zinād, from al-Aʿraj, from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet ﷺ said, “One of you deliberately drops in his prayer the way a camel sits.” The collectors of the Sunan—except Ibn Mājah—recorded it, and al-Tirmidhī commented, “This ḥadīth is singular (gharīb); we do not know it from Abū al-Zinād except by this route.”

This wording is free of the inversion found in al-Dārāwardī’s version, and when it is understood according to the observable manner in which a camel kneels, it accords with the ḥadīth of Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him): “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he prostrated, place his knees before his hands, and when he rose, lift his hands before his knees.” The compilers of the Sunan narrated it, al-Tirmidhī graded it ḥasan gharīb, and Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Ḥibbān, and al-Ḥākim declared it authentic. Al-Dhahabī added that it meets Muslim’s criteria.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī said, “The presence of Sharīk the judge in its chain—though he is not strong—does not detract from it, for Muslim narrated from him, so it satisfies his criterion.” I add: al-Bukhārī also cited him in his Ṣaḥīḥ in a suspended form. This ḥadīth of Wāʾil is further corroborated by the report of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ descend with the takbīr until his knees touched the ground before his hands.” It was related by al-Dāraqutnī, al-Ḥākim, and al-Bayhaqī.

Al-Ḥākim ruled, “It is authentic according to the standards of the two shaykhs, and I know of no defect in it, though they did not include it,” and al-Dhahabī endorsed his judgment in the Talkhīṣ.