Salafi Foot Jamming – updated
UPDATE 4: Mufti Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf analyses the evidence – http://www.zamzamacademy.com/2010/09/feet-to-feet-toe-to-toe/
UPDATE 3: Shaykh Hamza Yusuf explaining the “feet to feet” – the narrator for the hadith was an 8 year old boy as elucidated by Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani. See http://youtu.be/Q8AdSuKKrwY
UPDATE 2: al-Talib’s blog has an excerpt from the 3rd edition of Fiqh al-Imam [published by White Thread Press] by Mufti AbdurRahman ibn Yusuf “Feet to Feet, Toe to Toe?” which discusses the hadith that the Salafis rely on to push their position.
“Question:
Hanafis are often criticized for not touching toes in congregational prayer (by Salafis), who point to the hadith (I don’t know it off-hand). I understand that it’s not the hadith that is being questioned, but the interpretation.This is specifically a problem for women, as we have to keep our feet close together, according to our madhab. Please send me details as I am trying to put this across to a salafi sister.”
http://attalib.blogspot.com/2008/06/feet-to-feet-toe-to-toe.html
UPDATE: The blog Dar al-Hadithhas a useful scan of evidences, for those who can understand Arabic. against joining the feet that a lot of Salafis insist on.
http://daralhadith.blogspot.com/2008/05/joining-feet.html
I was digging through some of my old emails and knew that I had an old post from the Hanbali Fiqh list when it was active. Anyway, this is something on the subject posted by Sidi Musa Furber:
Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim”Foot-pressing stance” During Prayer
Q
As salaamu alaykum,Does the foot-pressing stance adopted by our Salafi brethren have sanction in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad?
Wassalam
A
wa `alaykum al-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhuI have not been able to find anything that explicitly says that people should pray with their feet and shoulders jammed together. The closest that I have found is that rows should be straightened using the ankles and shoulders as a guide to determining straightness, and that that rows should be tightened to remove any gaps. (See Kashshaf al-qina` (1:328), Ghayat al-muntaha (1:120))
And what is explicit regarding the feet is that they should be slightly parted. (See Kashshaf al-qina` (1:372), Nail al-Ma’arib (1:142))
Brothers and sisters who insist on jamming their foot up to their neighbors should realize that if their neighbor keeps moving their foot and they keep moving their foot to get rid of the gap, they run the risk of invalidating their prayer because of excessive needless motion. They should also bear in mind that while it is recommended to gather together the rows, it is prohibited to injure another Muslim without right (and this does happen) and it is offensive to annoy.
And Allah knows best.
wa al-salamu `alaykum
–musa
wa’as-salam
Mas’ud
www.masud.co.uk
25 thoughts on “Salafi Foot Jamming – updated”
?Assalamu alaikum sidi Masud,
we all know how ridiculous this wahabi-salafi reasoning can be, but I personally see no reason to descend into what might be termed salafi bashing.
Altho’ I think they’re at times hopelessly misguided in their understanding, and consquently promote confusion in the society, mockery will only serve to provide short term comedy value, and perhaps increase division in an already divided community.
I think we could do well from shaykh Hamza’s approach in public interviews like the one sidi Omair showed us a few days back on deenport. He seems to try and play down differences in the interest unity, tho’ he does mention on passing that wahhabis have a very puritanical reading of the Quran. By doing so, I think he manages to appeal to a far wider audience, and his otherwise very ‘traditional/sunni’ message gets a more open-minded reception.
By having a piece called ‘Salafi foot jamming’ on the deenport news section, and deriding our wahhabi brethren in the messages section, I think we risk distancing people who would otherwise benefit from the site.
And God knows best.
as long as the distancing is between the feet, it’s all good!
Salaam ‘Alaikum
I miss Hanbali list. Also, thanks to you, I now have a Bob Marley song in my head.
I don’t know if this is mockery. Maybe I’d feel differently if I was on the other side. But then, I’ve been on the receiving end of having my foot almost crushed by an overzealous sister. And the receiving end of being jerked around while in the salat by an overzealous sister. And seeing one of my friends physically assaulted during the salat by an overzealous sister for “praying wrong.” All of them following that particular understanding of the diyn.
But with Bob Marley in the head now, it just feels all irie or whatever. (does that mean “all good?”)
Walaykum as salaam
I totally agree with Br.Usaama’s very well said comments.
Salafis r trying to follow the sunnah to the best of their ability. It may be wrong interpretation but their niyyah is correct.
Also, they r a test for our moral (akhlaq) standing. They let us see our true colors. We forget all “for the unity” message when dealing with them.
Absolutely, they are 1000 times better than the Perennialist.
The post from “Tawheed” has been removed because it mentions that a hadith is mentioned in such and such collection but does not present it nor does it present any fatwa or commentary from any of the great ulama on the matter, rather it presents an OPINION of a deceased Wahhabi hadith scholar who is discredited and untrustworthy in matters of hadith, fiqh, aqidah and any other Islamic science, the only people who take from him are the Wahhabiyya and even amongst them there are those who have doubts about him. In short there is very little substance to the material posted apart from the opinion of Nasr al-Din al-Albani. Please seen the series of Articles Al-Albani Unveiled found on masud.co.uk
Salaam-u-aluikum. On your website, under the title misc there is a section about salaat on which the following is posted:
“Those who stand in this way base their practice upon a hadith narrated by Nu?maan bin Basheer (radhiallahu anhu). He says: “Once Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) faced us and said: “Straighten your rows”. He repeated this thrice. He then said: “By Allah, you must most certainly straighten your rows or else Allah Ta?ala will disunite your hearts”. Hazrat Nu?maan bin Basheer (radhiallahu anhu) says: “I then saw the people joining together their shoulders and ankles”. [Abu Dawood, Sahih ibn Khuzaima]
The concluding statement of Hazrat Nu?maan (radhiallahu anhu) is also reported in Sahih Bukhari.
The rest of the article goes onto say that Mohammed (saws) himself didnt tell the suhabas to join ankles but they did it themselves beacuse Mohammed (saws) was so adament that the people straighten there rows. Now lets ask the question who knows more about these issues – the suhabas or us.
Salaam
Since we are asking who knows better, then the prayer that we have received through successive generations of ulama from Imam Abu Hanifa who WITNESSED i.e. SAW with his own eyes the prayer of the sahabah and the tabi’een, then do you think that Imam Abu Hanifa and those who followed would change the way the prayer is performed? Never! The fact remains that it is IMPOSSIBLE to phyically join the ankles with the person next to you and then to maintain this stance throughout the prayer. Besides the objection is people pressing their feet not their ankles. It would seem that those who CLAIM they are implementing the Sunnah are actually introducing a bidah by joining toes rather than ankles.
Assalam-u-aluikum. Why cant you answer the simple question- who knows better, the people who lived at the time of Mohammed (saws) or us. Brother, as your website continues to say, differences of opinion are a mercy so why do you berate other peoples opinions when they back them other with legiimate hadeeths. Is this just beacuse they are different to yours? Muslims are getting killer through out the world , leaving the deen, making shirk, and all you want to do is to try and shout anyway down who has a different opinion to yours by saying things like “my Madhhabi-sense was tingling: “I bet he is a Salafi”.
This is so childish. How can we be one Ummah when people like you are so judgemental and narrow minded.
Salaam
Salaam brother Masud, here are some hadeeths for you on the subject:
The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Establish the lines [straight] and tarassuw [come closely together]. (Bukhari and Muslim).
Make your rows straight and stand close together, for I can see you from behind my back.”
[Al-Bukhari].
Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Keep your rows straight (during Salat in congregation), for keeping the rows straight is part of the perfection of Salat.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
And Anas ibn Malik further explained this hadith “I saw that one of us would connect his shoulder to the shoulder of his
companion and his heel to his heel” (Fath ul Bari).
Ibn Abidayn, one of the foremost scholars of the Hanafi madhab, said in his book Hashiyah: “As for what is reported, that they would cling ankle to ankle, the meaning by that is in congregation, that is – one stands next to the other, and it is like this in Fatawa Samiraqand”.
Salaam
salams, the objection is not to straightening of the lines, this is accepted and there is absolutely no disagreement on the obligation to straighten the lines. The objection is to those who consider that joining ankles is obligatory when it clearly is not and is merely permissible and then to force Muslims to adhere to this interpretation when there are alternative scholarly interpretations to the said hadith. Yes differences are a mercy but not when one is fascistically enforces one’s “difference” on someone else as the Wahhabiyya do!
I received the following from an Alim (“A:”) in response to the original posting by “Tawheed” (“T:>”):
T:> “…As known to people of knowledge, the Sunnah is broken down into Al-Qowliyyah (statements), Al-Fi’liyyah (actions), and At-Taqreeriyyah (approvals). As for As-Sunnah Al-Qowliyyah, then it is easily understood, it is the statements that the Companions reported from him (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam). As-Sunnah Al-Fi’liyyah is what they reported regarding his actions (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam). As for As-Sunnah At-Taqreeriyyah, it is what the Companions reported about each other, not from his actions (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam), but he saw the action and remained silent about it. This silence is not considered from his statements (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam), nor from his actions, rather it is his approval.
A: The taqririyyah include things that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) knew about and remained silent concerning. It is not necessary that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) saw or was intentionally informed of the specific issue; if the issue was well-known to the community, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) should have had knowledge of it.
The Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) remaining silent is considered tacit approval because he (may Allah bless him and give him peace) could not have remained silent concerning something that was unlawful.
T:> From here, it is appropriate for me that I stress the importance of joining together these two affairs that we have mentioned here. It is not sufficient for any Islaamic group that ascribes to the Truth, claiming to work by the Qur’aan and the Sunnah, that they summarize Islaam to be based only on the Book and the Sunnah. Rather they must also have a clear awareness of how the Companions of the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) implemented his Sunnah.
A: Correct. And they must have a clear awareness of how the Prophet and his companions (may Allah bless him and them and give him peace) understood linguistic phrases, for example: that while while verbal imperatives indicate orders (“Do x!”) and prohibitions (“Do not do x!”), actions in and of themselves do not. So while the default of a verbal imperatives indicate obligatory compliance, this is not the same with actions or the lack thereof.
So what does one understand from the silence of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace), other than that something is lawful – but not whether it is merely permissible, recommended, or required.
T:> So if straightening and consolidating the rows in this fashion, connecting the feet and shoulders, had not been legislated, then it would have been takalluf (overburdening oneself, excessiveness). And if it was takalluf, then the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) would have forbidden them from it. That is because, as in the authentic hadeeth, he prohibited takalluf. [11]
T:> If it is said that maybe it was possible that this was done without his knowledge (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam), then I say that the avenues of ‘maybe’ are very expansive indeed, however this issue we are discussing can not be like that due to two reasons. I have mentioned one of them, that the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) used to see what was behind him just as he could see what was in front of him.
A:
Note:
There is an order to straighten lines, an order which indicates obligatory compliance unless there is evidence to indicate otherwise.
The Companion (may Allah be pleased with him) described an action to which the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) gave his tacit approval. This tacit approval indicates that it is lawful, but does not in and of itself indicate obligatory compliance.
T:> The second reason is that if it so happened that he (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) had not witnessed this thing that the Companions were doing behind him in prayer, then verily no secret affair on Earth nor in the Heavens was ever hidden from the Lord of the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam). So, as I have said about our Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) before, he had no duty other than conveying Allaah’s Message. So, firstly and quite decisively, it should be said about the Lord of our Messenger, Blessed and Exalted – If He, the One whom no secret affair on Earth nor in the Heavens is hidden from, did not want to legislate this manner of straightening and consolidating the rows for His believing servants, then He would have ordered His Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) to prohibit them from this takalluf.
A: The actions that are legislated (Ar. mashru`a) include actions that are lawful, which includes the merely permissible, recommended, and obligatory.
So, bunching people together being legislated does not entail that it is obligatory.
Furthermore, the takalluf occurs only when one assumes that bunching people together is obligatory, or that bunching is to be carried out in the literal sense.
T:> Therefore, it is not befitting for the Muslim to understand his silence (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) about something as anything other than something our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, was aware of, and, furthermore, Allaah’s approval for His Prophet to allow that thing to take place…”
A: Correct. But it is not befitting for Muslims to assume that everything that tacit approval indicates obligatory compliance.
T:> from an excellent tape from the silsilah series, please read the entire article if you are able
A: I hope that listeners and readers find that the content displays understanding of the actual significance of the various types fo evidence – as covered in usul al-fiqh – not just rote memorizing of a few technical terms from mustalah al-hadith as seen in the parent message.
They stand with their feet so wide apart in this arrogant palace guard stance.
Mas’ud says: SubhanAllah, here is a typical rabid response from a “Salafi”, he totally ignores the evidence that is given and goes off on one. I am not sure what the evidence is for “anybody who does not pray foot to foot shoulder to shoulder is from ahlul bida“, I didn’t realise that was one of the definitions of Ahl ul-Bidah, nice that the Salafis are innovating new ways of labelling people. Oh well, I would much rather “blind follow” Imam Abu Hanifa and the line of Hanafi ulama than blind follow a modern day la-madhhabi from Riyadh.
—————————————
salaamualaikum.
I am a salafi and you are ahlul bida! sheikh saleh al fowzan al fowzan stated …”anybody who does not pray foot to foot shoulder to shoulder is from ahlul bida”. its all good sitting on ur laptop and slandering salafis but if you truley want an answer from a salafi then go to riyadh, go to the perminent commitee of scholars and ask for sheikh fowzan. You claim to have people of knowledge, well if u do send them to riyadh aswell. You people sit here and slander muslims! check sahih abu daood, ur answers for linking your feet together are there. You blind follow abu hanifa. You are, like sheikh al albani described you so called hanafis, the modern day sufis. so run along with your bida and we’ll keep our sunnah because like the famous talib al ilm, abu owais (rahimahullah) said “we’re not having it! you want to bring your bida, you want to take me away from the ulama and the sunnah. you want me to stop following mustafa (pbuh) and follow your “elders”, WE’RE NOT HAVING IT”
I keep finding good and bad elements on the Masud site. On one hand it shows great reading yet at the same time likes to sow the seeds of disunity in the Ummah. I dont think Masud bhai is really doing anyone any favours by bringing this post back up.
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Mas’ud says: This is not a unity issue, it is an issue that I have to put up with whenever I visit certain mosques. This issue has been presented with evidence and is not a “Wahhabi bash”. Besides, I do not believe in unity at all costs especially when you have to concede to error and misguidance. My main site masud.co.uk, it can be said, does no favours to unity, since the topics and issues discussed are highly contentious, should I take that site down “for the sake of unity” or should it still stand as an alternative to the aggressively pushed Salafi/Wahhabi “da’wah”? I am sorry if you feel offended.
Assalamu’alaikum. As far as I know, Imam Abu Hanifah is one of the salaf, so following him “blindly” is just fine. At least one would think so, since the “salafis” claim to blindly follow the salaf. They shouldn’t have a problem with someone following the noble scholars of the salaf such as Abu Hanifa.
Usually what happens to me in the “salafi” mosques is I’ll be crushed during the prayer. Well, not crushed, but my legs will be pushed together when I’m in the sitting position and there’s just no room for me, because the other brothers are bigger than me and pushing from both sides. I understand they want to be close and implement a hadith of sorts, but to make me feel trapped like that isn’t good either.
Wassalam,
Husam
masud, f*** you! coward.
From muslims of chechenya…
——————-
A rather pleasant message from “Muslims” or rather Wahhabis of Chechenya in response to a comment I didn’t post about joining feet in prayer which was rather nonsensical. Thank Allah that there are still the people of Imam Shamyl in Chechenya and those of the Sufi tradition to uphold the values of adab and chivalry and not rabid Wahhabism like these people.
Mas’ud says: Brother, The argument here isn’t about gaps and straightening the lines, perhaps you have misunderstood. It is about the insistence of Salafis/Wahhabis in jamming their feet against the person next to them even though there is no evidence for this from the Sunnah.
Gaps invite Shaytaan
The Prophet said, Straighten your lines, and align your shoulders, and yield your hands to your brothers, and close the gaps, for indeed Shaytaan comes between you through them, just as the small lamb does. (Ahmad, at-Tabaraanee and others and it is Saheeh.)(4)
Ibn Umarreported that Allaah (AWJ)’s Messenger said, Establish your lines [straight], for indeed the angels [pray] in lines. Align your shoulders, close the gaps, yield your hands to your brothers, and do not leave any gaps for Shaytaan. Whoever connects a line, Allaah maintains him, and whoever breaks a line, Allaah cuts him off. (Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa`ee and others. See Saheeh ul-Jaami no. 1187)
most danger person for islaam is who? not a kaafir!it is jaahil muslim.umar R.A.SAID
Assalamulaikum brothers and sisters
MashaAllah a good discussion is in motion. I belong to Pakistan and most of us follow the Hanafi school. I generally dont follow a specific madhab but if somebody were to put a gun to my head i would probably say im a mix of deobandi and salafi. The deoband is a stricter form of the sufi school if you would like to research. And the salafi i think most of those abroad are aware of, they are referred to as Ahl-e-Hadith in Pakistan.
Continuing with the present discussion i would like to make a few points. Brother Masud keeps referring to salafi with wahabbi, mixing the two in short. This is something educated people dont do in my understanding! Do you know the significance of the term wahabi or wahabiyya? Do you know it has a negative connotation whenever mentioned in a debate between salafis and sufis? Do you know that salafis existed before the birth of Abdul Wahab? No offence brother but i have noticed you are easily offended. We must have sabr/patience and unity is very important. No offence again you are my brother hanafi or salafi remember that.
Now regarding joining/not joining the feet. Like i said the majority of us in Pak are hanafi so we leave a little distance between the feet while the salafis ofcourse dont. Now i have prayed most of my life with hanafis and a bit with salafis when i was abroad. Now regarding the reaction to closing the feet. We have to realize the reactions are based on personal preferences and will to accomodate or to not accomodate. Regarding my personal preference i actually enjoyed closing the feet with my salafi brothers. It made me feel more close to the ummah and also made me more sure the devil had been left with no space to swoop through 🙂 I would also like to admit that after returning to Pak i started feeling distant while in prayer and wondering why were so far away from each other. It seems that when people leave gaps in prayer, the devil increases those gaps. Allah knows best.
On the other hand many hanafis get offended. But what is there to be offended about? It’s just a bit closer, tighter and more uncomfortable that is if you’re very much into comfort. We should be understanding of each other, its ok because our niyyat is clear, if it isnt that leads to anger and frustration which the devil loves to exploit.
Wassalam
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as-salamu ‘alaykum,
Mas’ud says: I think you have missed the point of this discussion, the point is that there is no clear evidence that supports joining the feet, it is not about comfort or discomfort although distracting someone in prayer is a big sin. Quite often, those who insist on joining feet leave gaps at the shoulder and the precedent is given to the shoulder since that is mentioned first in the hadith. There is plenty of infighting in the Wahhabi/Salafi groups to show that they have not got this issue correct and they are usually amongst the first to cause dissension and disharmony amongst people.
Your observation about “Wahhabi” and “Salafi”, I am fully aware of the history of the terminologies and the Wahhabi sect, it appears that perhaps you are not. The Salaf are the first three generations after the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) not people who came a 500 years later. The term Salafi was perhaps first used by Ibn Taymiyya in the 7th Century but actually coined by Muhammad Abduh and Jamal ad-Din Afghani. The term “Wahhabi” though used pejoratively in some circles is a valid term for those on the minhaj of Muhammad ibn Abdal-Wahhab and this term is widely used in academic circles. So your assertion that this is something educated people don’t do is erroneous and perhaps shows a deficiency in your own understanding. Salafism is mutated from Wahhabism and Muhammad ibn Abdal-Wahhab remains to this day a major figure in the Salafi movement in all its myriad mutated forms. “Wahhabi” and “Salafi” are pretty much synonymous terms.
You may want to read some of the articles on my main site http://www.masud.co.uk on this issue.
wa’as-salam
Mas’ud
Assalamulaikum
I find it offensive on the part of salafis even though im not particularly a salafi that you equate wahabbis and salafis as one of the same. The educated people who use this equation too much i have observed are either clearly anti salafi or those with a western agenda that always seeks to discredit salafis by terming them as wahabbis. If you ask a salafi what he would like to be called he would prefer salafi to wahabbi brother. Im talking from a more understanding point of view. You yourself stated that the term salafism came before the existence of Abdul Wahab so how can you term them as synonymous? Fine there are similarities but brother there are similarities between all extreme froms of the madhabs, mutated forms exist in all madhabs. Wahabbism is more of an idea than a real term if you research more extensively, the west made sure this term sticks to our tongues and the moment we think salafi we think wahabbi because thats how our minds have been trained it seems. The ‘idea’ of a wahabbi is a warped salafi. This is my point and this is why i think it is unfair to term them as synonymous. Also please explain your statement salafism is mutated from wahabbism. Is it your opinion or is it a fact?
Regarding the point of the discussion. I didnt miss the point i was just adding what i thought was important. Its not all about hurling evidences at each other and accusing the other of pratising bida. There are good muslims amongst all madhabs and being too critical and rigid just alienates us more from each other. It really saddens me at times, the Islamic blog scene because i come from a country of mostly uneducated people but let me tell you the educated muslims on blogs etc are much worse than those uneducated people concerning the will to be accomodating. Many people think its the lack of education that has disunited and caused the muslim downfall, but sadly this isnt the case. Anyway i keep wavering from the topic but my basic point is that its ok man if they join their feet why get so offended? When i prayed with salafis fine i joined the feet but the rest of my prayer is like a hanafi which is hardly any different anyway. Nobody was pissed off brother it was all chill no issues. And how is joining the feet a major disturbance in prayer anyway?? come on brother!! Have a heart, its not that bad! There are muslim of multiple madhabs facing much worse issues. Anyway this is just my opinion. So please dont be offended i repeat 🙂 You are my brother and i admire your will to debate controversial issues on your blog page 🙂 I will check out the site you mentioned inshaAllah.
Wassalam brother
Assalamulaikum all
It seems to me some greasy feet have been rubbing against dear brother masud’s feet. I also have a feeling brother masud’s feet are highly sensitive and possibly ticklish from the sides hehe I see this topic has come up again and yes many people have expressed the need for uniting the ummah rather than holding on to these small differences and going on and on about such minor differences. Brother Masud you are such a dedicated hanafi but don’t you think you’re losing sight of the bigger picture here. Do you think the great hanafi scholars went on and on about things like this? Sometimes your stubborness makes a reader think someone is pushing you to say what you’re saying. I truly hope and pray you will move on one day and realize that the so called aggressive salafi dawah groups are not your enemy but your brothers and sisters with a slightly different approach to the deen. Personally i don’t subscribe to any group but i try to appreciate the good qualties of most of the schools in todays world. I suggest you do the same and life will become more peaceful for you inshaAllah. P.S Please stop playing with Allah’s name Al-Wahab.
Bukhari
Volume 1, Book 11, Number 692:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
The Prophet said, “Straighten your rows for I see you from behind my back.” Anas added, “Everyone of us used to put his shoulder with the shoulder of his companion and his foot with the foot of his companion.”
Abu Dawood
Book 2, Number 0666:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Set the rows in order, stand shoulder to shoulder, close the gaps, be pliant in the hands of your brethren, and do not leave openings for the devil. If anyone joins up a row, Allah will join him up, but if anyone breaks a row, Allah will cut him off.
Husam you said that imam Hanafi was a salafi so we should have no problem in following him. The whole point of being salafi is to follow the sunnah directly through the hadith and quran alone. Imam hanifa did do this to the best of his ability. However Salafi in itself doesnt have certain rulings it just means to follow the prophet sunnah and the quran. So there is no such thing as salafi teachings and rulings, the only structure behind salafi is the idea of following the quran and sunnah alone. So we cant say that Imam Hanifa “followed the salafi way”, him being salafi only denotes that he tried to follow the quran and sunnah alone to the best of his ability not that he held on to certain ruling and teachings which were considered salafi rulings and teachings. So me being Salafi also means that I will follow the quran and sunnah alone and that is what we do and if it cotradicts with Imam Hanifa there is nothing for us to think about but to follow the quran and sunnah to the best of our ability for that is what he tried to do also.
Concerning if we should put are feet together, as the brother said: “The Prophet said, Straighten your lines, and align your shoulders, and yield your hands to your brothers, and close the gaps, for indeed Shaytaan comes between you through them, just as the small lamb does. (Ahmad, at-Tabaraanee and others and it is Saheeh.)(4)”
This is a clear cut ruling that we have to put our feet together for those of you who said that it isnt a must.
Assalaam Alaikum
Two important points are missed here.
1) From the Hadith of Abu Dawud “.. I saw each person join his shoulders with the next persons and his knees and ankles with the next persons”..”
From the hadith if one assumes this means touching then try standing to the person next to you by touching the ankle and the knee. This will be impossible or at the least most uncomfortable. This proves that what is meant is aligned to the ankle and knee not touching.
2) If you look at those who insist on touching you will note that most touch the toes not ankles. This is due to the fact that people are of different heights. Moreover if you look from the back at the row you will see that in most cases the shoulders are not touching.
Now go to a mosque where people do not touch the feet. You will notice the rows are straight. The shoulders are touching and the feet are straight point towards the Qibla.
Assalaam Alaikum
Please refer to muftisays.com/mufti umar farook on the issue
of joining feet in swalaat.you will find a valuable explanation.I have not meet a better and complete explanation
than this.Allah knows best.you will learn lots of Hadiths and explanation of great scholars about this issue
Hope this will help Inshah Allah
Here’s the best article on the net on this issue:
http://www.muftisays.com/muftifarooq.php?viewpage=joiningfeet
How is it possible to align the following five: feet, ankles, knees, shoulders, and necks when all five are mentioned in statements of Prophet or in the actions of his companions? Hence, you can’t say, let’s do as much as possible. The correct answer is that it’s not in the literal sense of the word. The two most important things are keeping the rows straight and leaving no space in between. Those two objectives are easily achieved today by the lines on the carpet and by touching the shoulders of the person next to us. People who usually touch the foot of the person beside them usually are not touching the shoulders even though the explicit command of the prophet is to touch the shoulders of the next person. There is not one Hadith from the Prophet which tells us to touch the foot of the person beside us. If the Salafis say the Sahabah’s actions are evidence, then well, they also performed 20 Rakats Taraweeh so why don’t you perform 20? 🙂
The Mujlisul Ulama of South Africa have an excellent explanation of this issue, in my opinion: http://books.themajlis.net/book/print/16