Bowing
Rukūʿ — bowing
The back level, the hands on the knees, and one sentence repeated.
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيمِ
Subḥāna Rabbiyal-ʿAẓīm
How far above all fault is my Master, the Immense.
Why it is said here
The body says what the words say. You bend before the Immense, and while bent you name Him immense — three times or more. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'As for the bowing, magnify your Lord in it.' It is the posture of someone who has heard an order and is not going to argue.
subḥānaroot س ب ح
سُبْحَانَ
far removed from every fault
rabbiyaroot ر ب ب
رَبِّيَ
my Master, the One who raised me
al-ʿAẓīmroot ع ظ م
الْعَظِيمِ
the Immense, immense in Himself
- Al-ʿAẓīm
- Ar-Rabb
Bowing itself is a pillar; the prayer is not valid without it, and it must be done calmly, not rushed.
Where the schools differ: The wording of the tasbīḥ inside it is recommended rather than required in the view of the majority; the Ḥanbalīs hold saying it at least once to be required.
Muslim 479; al-Bukhārī 793 (ṣaḥīḥ)
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