objectionable. Sleeping on one’s back is unobjectionable, and the same applies to sleeping on the left side, while sleeping on the right side is superior. Lying flat on one’s stomach, however, should not be done except out of necessity.

As for sitting, every sitting posture is permissible. There is no objection to sitting cross-legged, nor to sitting in iḥtibāʾ or qurfuṣāʾ—that is, with the thighs and shins upright and the arms clasped around the legs—for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, sat in that very manner. No sitting style is disapproved except the one the Prophet ﷺ described as the posture of those who have incurred wrath: to put one’s left hand behind the back, place the palm on the ground, and lean on it. This is the posture the Prophet ﷺ identified as the sitting of those who have incurred wrath.

If a person places both hands behind his back and leans on them, there is no harm, and the same applies if he rests on the right hand alone. What the Prophet ﷺ specifically condemned is to place the left hand behind the back, set its inner side—the palm—on the ground, and lean upon it. That, and that alone, is the posture he labeled the sitting of those who have incurred wrath.