The report, then, clearly supports what we have stated about the permissibility of lying down in the mosque. Al-Bukhari and al-Nasa’i both headed chapters with that ruling, and the commentators on the two Sahihs and others have followed the same understanding. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar writes in Fath al-Bari:

“It appears that the Prophet’s ﷺ action was meant to clarify permissibility, and that it occurred during a time of rest, not when people were gathered around him, for his well-known habit when sitting among them was one of perfect dignity. Al-Khattabi said: From this we learn the permissibility of leaning, lying down, and other forms of rest in the mosque. Al-Dawudi added: The reward promised to the one who stays in the mosque is not confined to the person who sits; it is granted to the one who lies down as well.”

Know also that it is authentically reported in Sahih Muslim and elsewhere, on the authority of Jabir, that:

“The Prophet ﷺ forbade a man to place one of his legs over the other while lying on his back.”

It is obvious that this does not contradict our earlier statement about the general permissibility of reclining; rather, it appears to conflict only with reclining in the precise posture mentioned in the two reports. The scholars reconciled the narrations by explaining that the prohibition applies when there is a risk of exposing one’s private parts, and that it is allowed when such exposure is not feared. Allah knows best.

As for the report recorded by al-Tabarani from Qatadah ibn al-Nu‘man in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“When Allah finished creating creation He reclined, placed one leg over the other, and said: ‘It is not proper for anyone among My creation to do this,’”