Jalsah al-Istirahah

Sitting or pause briefly after Second Sujud in the Solat.

What is the ruling on Jalsah al-Istirahah?

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All the Praise is to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala. Peace and Blessings be upon His Messenger Prophet Muhammad.

It is mustahab to observe Jalsah al-Istirahah in the solat; it is the brief sitting or pause after the secondo prostrations of each rak’ah in which one does not recite the Tashahhud immediately or stands up for the next rak’ah after the prostration.

A hadith to this effect was reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawud and Sunan al-Tirmidzi via different isnads that are also sahih.

Al-Shafi’e, Ishaq and Ahmad view it as a sunnah and mustahab to observe it. Imam al-Nawawi said: Jalsah al-Istirahah is not mustahab after sajdah al-Tilawah (prostration during recitation of Qur’an) during prayer. And this is the consensus in the mazhab of al-Shafi’e.

It was reported that Abu Qulabah (radiallahu`anhu) said:

“Malik ibn al-Huwayrith showed us how the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) prayed, and when he raised his head from the second prostration in the first rak’ah, he sat and then stood up.”

[Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Al-Tirmidzi]

The wording according to sahih al-Bukhari is: “When he (s.a.w) raised his head from the second prostration, he sat and settled on the ground, and then he stood up.”

I say [An-Nawawi]: one of the features of the prayer is Jalsah al-Istirahah which should be done after every prostration from which one stands up.

It is not Sunnah to do Jalsah al-Istirahah after Sajdah al-Tilawah, or when one is praying sitting down, or in the fourth or second rak’ah of Zuhur, for example, if a person wants to recite Tashahhud. If he does not want to recite it, then it is Sunnah to do Jalsah al-Istirahah.

According to the soundest opinion Jalsah al-Istirahah is a separation between the two rak’ahs,; it is not a part of either the first rak’ah or the second.

The best is not to make it last longer than a few seconds, because according to the Sunnah, the shorter it is the better, like when one keeps quiet in prayer.

[Footnote to Fatawa al-Imam al-Nawawi, p. 47.]

[Excerpted with modification from the Fatwa No: 3491 of Islam Q&A]