(3-5) Offering Voluntary Prayer While Seated

Imrān ibn Husayn—who suffered from hemorrhoids—reported: I asked the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—about a man praying while seated. He replied, “If he prays standing, that is better. Whoever prays while seated receives half the reward of one who prays standing, and whoever prays lying down receives half the reward of one who prays seated.” Reported by al-Bukhārī. (1)

After narrating this hadith, al-Tirmidhī said, “Some scholars understood this hadith to refer to voluntary prayer.”

He then narrated through his chain of transmission that al-Hasan said, “A man may, if he wishes, offer voluntary prayer standing, seated, or lying down.”

“The scholars differed concerning how a sick person should pray if he is unable to pray while seated. Some scholars said that he should pray lying on his right side. Others said that he should pray lying on his back, with his feet facing the qiblah. Regarding the words of this hadith, ‘Whoever prays while seated receives half the reward of one who prays standing,’ Sufyān al-Thawrī said, ‘This is true of one who has no excuse’—meaning with respect to voluntary prayers. As for someone who has an excuse due to illness or otherwise and prays while seated, he receives the same reward as one who prays standing.

“A statement to the same effect as that of Sufyān al-Thawrī has also been reported in some narrations of this hadith.” (2) End quote.

Āisha—may Allah be pleased with her—reported: When Abdullah ibn Shaqīq al-Uqaylī asked her