performing his prayer properly—meaning that he was not straightening his back during bowing and prostration. When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had finished the prayer, he said, ‘O Muslims, there is no prayer for one who does not straighten his back during bowing and prostration.’” This was narrated by Imam Ahmad and Ibn Mājah. In one narration of Imam Ahmad, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Allah does not look upon a man who does not straighten his back between his bowing and his prostration.”

This shows that straightening the spine means returning to an upright posture in the course of bowing, as we have explained. A group of scholars, including some of our own school and others, interpreted it as referring to stillness itself and cited this hadith as evidence for that alone, not for the two returns to an upright posture. According to the explanation we have given, however, it indicates both.

Imam Ahmad also narrated in the Musnad from Abu Qatādah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The worst thief among people is the one who steals from his prayer.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how does he steal from his prayer?” He replied, “He does not complete its bowing or its prostration”—or he said: “He does not straighten his back during bowing and prostration.” The apparent implication of this uncertainty in the wording is that the intended meaning of the two expressions is one and the same; the uncertainty concerns only the exact wording, as occurs in similar cases.

Furthermore, Abd al-Rahmān ibn Shibl, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, prohibited pecking like a crow, sprawling like a beast of prey, and a man making a fixed place for himself in the mosque as a camel does.” This was recorded by Abu Dāwūd, al-Nasā’ī, and Ibn Mājah.