Praying While Sitting By Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) explained the definition of the hardship which makes it permissible for a person not to stand in an obligatory prayer, and how to sit. He said: The definition of difficulty is that which takes away khushoo’ (proper focus and humility). Khushoo’ means that the heart is focused and at peace. If it is the case that standing will make a person severely anxious and have no peace of mind, and he is longing to get to the end of al-Faatihah so that he can bow because he is finding it too hard to stand, then it is too difficult for him to pray standing, so he should pray sitting.
The same applies to one who is afraid and cannot pray standing, such as if he is praying behind a wall, and there are enemies around watching out for him, and if he stands they will be able to see him from behind the wall, but if he sits he will be hidden from his enemies. In this case we say to him: Pray sitting.
This is indicated by the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And if you fear (an enemy), perform Salaah (pray) on foot or riding”[al-Baqarah 2:239]
Allaah has exempted the one who is afraid from bowing, prostrating and sitting, and the same applies to standing if he is afraid.
But how should he sit?
He should sit mutarabbi’an on his buttocks, with each calf tucked up to the thigh. This is called tarabbu’, and in this posture the calf and thigh on the right and the left are all visible, whereas in the case of iftiraash the calf disappears beneath the thigh, but in tarabbu’ all four parts (thigh and calf on both sides) are visible.
Is it obligatory to sit like this?
No, it is Sunnah. If a person prays muftarishan (in the posture called iftiraash) there is nothing wrong with it, and if he prays muhtabiyan (sitting with one’s legs drawn up and wrapped in one's garment) there is nothing wrong with it, because of the general meaning of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “If he cannot, then sitting.” He did not explain how he is to sit.
If a person says, Is there any evidence to suggest that he should pray mutarabbi’an? The answer is yes. ‘Aa’ishah said: I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) praying mutarabbi’an. And because that is usually more comfortable than al-iftiraash. It is well known that standing needs a longer recitation than saying, “Rabb ighfir li warhamni (Lord forgive me and have mercy on me).” Hence it is better to sit mutarabbi’an. And there is another benefit, which is differentiating between sitting instead of standing, and sitting when one is supposed to sit; if we say that a person should sit muftarishan during the time of standing, there would be no difference between the way of sitting when one is supposed to and the way of sitting when it is done instead of standing.
If that is at the time of bowing, some of them say that it should be muftarishan but the correct view is that it should be mutarabbi’an, because when bowing a person’s leg and thigh are upright, and he only bends his back. So we say that if a person is mutarabbi’an he should remain like that and bow in that posture. This is the correct view concerning this matter.
[al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 4/461]
