`

Is it impermissible to close your eyes during salah and sujud?

Is it impermissible to close your eyes during salah and sujud?
by
March 07, 2024
in Q&A
No Comments
188

During salah the norm is to direct your gaze towards the place of prostration while standing, your feet when bowing and your nose while prostrating and on the ground while sitting.

There is a hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) advised keep your eyes open during salah and this is how the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed. Scholars have commented that the reason for this could be that the reason it protects you from being bitten by snakes or scorpions.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said,

“Anyone from you who performs salah should not close his/her eyes”. (Tabarani)

If you semi close your eyes to increase focus and concentration or close your eyes during some parts is acceptable, but your eyes should not be closed throughout the salah.

Among the jurists were those who did not dislike closing the eyes at all. However Imam al-Nawawi said:

“The preferred opinion is that it is not disliked if one does not fear harm, because it combines humility and presence of the heart, and prevents directing the gaze and dispersing the mind.”

Allah knows best.

Shaykh Haytham Tamim

share

Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.

Recommended Posts