1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

66 Questions

Are my prayers considered valid if I did not put my nose on the ground during Sujood though I kept all other body parts on the ground?
Zaid Alsalami

Bismihi ta'ala

There are seven of our body parts that need to be fixed on the ground when we do sujud in our wajib prayers. 

Tip of our two toes of our two feet.
Our two knees.
Our two palms. 
Our forehead. 

The eighth, which is our nose is mustahab, to be placed on something that we can do sajdah on, like a turbah. 

In the case of your nose being raised from the ground, or on the ground, but on something that is not valid to do sajdah on, then there is no problem and the prayer will be valid. 

And Allah knows best. 
I heard a Shia scholar say that when prostrating at the doorstep of the Prophet (saw), with the intention of piety and love of Allah, this action is not regarded as an act of Shirk. Can you explain the boundaries of Tawheed and Shirk in Shia Islam?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

Tawheed means not believing nor worshiping but only Allah (SWT). Shirk is believing or worshiping other than Allah with Allah (SWT). We believe that the Prophet and his Ahlul Bayt are the most humble servants of Allah. 

Prostrating at the doorstep of the Prophet (SAWA) is in fact for thanking Allah for granting us the great bounty of visiting the shrine of the Prophet (SAWA) or his Ahlul Bayt (AS). Thanking Allah in the form of prostrating is a sincere worship to Allah and can never be Shirk. We never believe nor accept any claim suggesting worshiping the Prophet, his Ahlul Bayt or any one but only Allah (SWT). Respecting the Prophet and his Ahlul Bayt does not mean worshipping them at all. Respect is completely different from worshiping. Wahhabis mix wrongly between respect and worship. Even we prostrate at the doorstep of the holy shrines, we never do it as a sign of respect but we do it as an act of thanking Allah for His great bounties on us.

Wassalam.
I heard a Shia scholar say that when prostrating at the doorstep of the Prophet (saw), with the intention of piety and love of Allah, this action is not regarded as an act of Shirk. Can you explain the boundaries of Tawheed and Shirk in Shia Islam?
Zoheir Ali Esmail

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. Shirk is to limit Allah in any way such that even the conception of another god would be possible. Even to say He is a god is not satisfactory as that would entail a genus of gods under which God would be a species with only one referent. Numerical oneness is limited, as in numbering God as one a person gives the possibility of two gods. Numbers themselves are a factor of the material world. Rather, Allah is above being numbered as a number entails a limit and He is above all limitations.

As for prostration, it is clear that if a person prostrates to a being in worship then that is completely forbidden in Islam and Shiism as a sect within Islam. However, prostration does not only entail this meaning and is also a symbol of humbleness. For this reason God commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam (as), not in worship or out of polytheistic intent. So too Prophet Ya'qub (as) prostrated in front of Prophet Yusuf (as).

May you always be successful 
Is Sajdah in prayers acceptable when done on a marble floor?
Zaid Alsalami

Bismihi ta'ala 

If it is natural marble, and has not been laminated by plastic or anything else, then it would be permissible to do sajdah on.

And Allah knows best.