(1) It is reported from the Companion Ibn Abbas. Ibn Jurayj said: “Abu al-Zubayr told me that he heard Tawus say: We asked Ibn Abbas about the practice of iq‘a (sitting on one’s heels with the toes upright). He replied, ‘It is the sunnah.’ We said, ‘We regard it as an uncouth posture for a man.’ Ibn Abbas answered, ‘Rather, it is the sunnah of your Prophet, peace be upon him.’” Muslim recorded it (2/70), as did Abu Awana (2/189), Abu Dawud (1/134), al-Tirmidhi (2/73), al-Hakim (1/272) and al-Bayhaqi (2/119) through several chains. Al-Tirmidhi graded it sound (hasan), and al-Hakim declared it authentic according to Muslim’s criteria, although he was mistaken in claiming that Muslim had omitted it; see al-Sahihah, no. 383. Al-Bayhaqi also relates, through Ibn Ishaq, a narration clarifying how this iq‘a is performed: “Abd Allah b. Abi Najih al-Makki told me, from Mujahid b. Jabr Abu al-Hajjaj, who said: I heard Abd Allah b. Abbas mention that the Messenger of Allah, when praying, would sit erect on his heels with the fronts of his feet on the ground between the two prostrations. I said, ‘Abu al-Abbas, by Allah, we used to think that anyone who did this was being rough.’ He replied, ‘It is a sunnah.’” This chain is good. (*) The late Shaykh also cited it in his work al-Sifah, referring to Abu Shaykh’s collection “What Abu al-Zubayr narrated from persons other than Jabir,” nos. 104–106.