‘Abd Allāh (1)—‘Alqama and al-Aswad—who said: “We remember that, in his prayer, ‘Umar went down onto his knees after bowing, just as a camel goes down, placing his knees before his hands.” He then related through al-Hajjāj ibn Artāh, who said: “Ibrāhīm al-Nakha‘ī said: ‘It is recorded that ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd’s knees would (2) touch the ground before his hands.’” He also related from Ibn Marzūq (3), from Wahb, from Shu‘ba, from Mughīra (4), who said: “I asked Ibrāhīm about a man placing his hands before his knees when prostrating. He replied: ‘Would anyone but a fool or a madman do that!’”

Ibn al-Mundhir said (5): “The scholars have differed on this matter. Among those who held that one should place one’s knees before one’s hands was ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb. This was also the view of al-Nakha‘ī, Muslim ibn Yasār, al-Thawrī, al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad, Ishāq, Abū Hanīfa and his followers, and the scholars of Kufa. Another group held that one should place one’s hands before one’s knees; this was Mālik’s view. Al-Awzā‘ī said (6): ‘The people I encountered would place their hands before their knees.’” Ibn Abī Dāwūd said (7): “This is the view of the people of hadith.”

I say: Abū Hurayra’s hadith has also been narrated with another wording, cited by al-Bayhaqī (8), namely: