Sujood, the prostration

After standing up from ruku, you say Allahu akbar and go down to the ground for sujood. Sujood is the prostration, the lowest and most humbling position in salah. It is a physical declaration that you are small and your Lord is great.

“The closest a servant is to his Lord is when he is in sujood. So make much supplication in it.”

— Sahih Muslim 482

What the prostration looks like

The Prophet ﷺ taught that seven body parts must touch the ground in sujood:

• Forehead (and the tip of the nose, most scholars include it)
• Two hands (palms down, fingers together, level with the shoulders or slightly forward)
• Two knees
• The tips of the two feet (toes bent so they point toward qibla)

Elbows do not touch the ground. Thighs do not touch the calves. Men keep arms clear of the body; women draw closer together. Position is calm, not compressed, not sprawling.

What to say in sujood

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْأَعْلَىٰ

“Subhana rabbiyal a'la.”

— Sunan Abi Dawud 871

Glory to my Lord, the Most High. Three times is standard.

Because sujood is the closest position, you are encouraged to ask Allah for what you need while you are down there. In your own language. Specific things. After the tasbih. This is one of the moments in salah where personal dua is explicitly invited by the Prophet ﷺ.

Coming up

You sit up briefly between the two sajdahs, then go down for a second one identical to the first. Then you stand up for the next rakah, or if the rakah is the last, you go into the final sitting.

That brief sit between the two sajdahs has its own name (jalsah) and its own dua: rabbi ighfir li (my Lord, forgive me). You say this once or three times before going down again.