The Sunnah. The second narration is that he does sit. Al-Khallal chose this, and it is one of the two sayings of al-Shafi'i. Al-Khallal said: Abu 'Abd Allah returned to this; meaning he abandoned his statement of not sitting, because of what Malik ibn al-Huwayrith narrated, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to sit when he raised his head from prostration before rising. [Narrated by al-Bukhari] (3). Abu Humayd also mentioned it in the description of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (4), and it is a hasan sahih (good and authentic) hadith, so acting upon it and adhering to it becomes established.

It was said: If the prayer-performer is weak, he sits for the rest (istirahah) due to his need to sit, and if he is strong, he does not sit due to having no need for it. The sitting of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was interpreted as having occurred in the latter part of his life, during his old age and weakness; in this, there is a harmonization between the reports and a middle ground between the two opinions.

When we say he sits, it is possible that he sits in the iftirash posture (spreading the left foot and sitting on it), following the same manner of sitting between the two prostrations, which is the school of al-Shafi'i. This is due to the statement of Abu Humayd in the description of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Then he folded his leg, sat down, and sat straight until every limb returned to its place, then he rose." This is explicit regarding the manner of the sitting of rest, so it is necessary to adhere to it. Al-Khallal said: It was narrated from Ahmad by more people than I can count that he sits on his buttocks. Al-Qadi said: He sits on his feet and buttocks, placing them on the ground, because if he sat in the iftirash posture, he would not be safe from forgetfulness, and he might doubt whether he sat after the first prostration or the second; by this [other method], he is safe from that. Abu al-Hasan al-Amidi said: Our companions do not differ that he should not press his buttocks against the ground in the sitting of rest, rather he sits raised from the ground. According to both narrations, he rises for the standing upon the balls of his feet, leaning upon his knees, and he does not lean upon his hands. Al-Qadi said: His opinion does not differ that he does not lean upon the ground, whether we say he sits for rest or he does not sit. Malik and...