moving during namaaz

[fatma]

Assalamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

dear Imam sahib,

i would like to know how many movements in one position invalidate your namaaz, i have read in many places that you can do three movements but is it on the third movement that your namaaz is broken or is it if you mave your hand a fourth time? hope that makes sense.

also some kitaabs state that if you do a movement and without putting your hand in it's original place again and do something else again with that hand it is counted as one movement. my question here is can you move your hand freely from say your knee to your elbow or do you have to take it against your body to be counted as one movement? again i hope this makes sense.

Jazakallah Khair for your time and knowledge.

Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

[Imam]

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu


All Praise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved, and Final Messenger of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam

Strictly, with all focus upon Allah the Almighty, there should not be any movement at all. No itching, no scratching, no moving hair, or even clothes, as this should all be done prior to salah.

If however, it becomes a must, that you have to move, then slight movements for example touching your nose to see if it is not bleeding, or any other part of the body, will not invalidate your salah.

It is not the number of times you make the movement that invalidates your salah, rather the type of movement. So for example, if an onlooker was to see you doing something in your salah, which would have prevented him in thinking that you were in salah at all, would invalidate your salah, and is regarded as an excess act ('amal-e-kathir). This would invalidate your salah.

However, it must be remembered, that movements should only be made, when there is a dire need to, and this is only for our own benefit.

When the Companions of the Beloved Messenger Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam used to pray salah, it had been noted that birds would pirch upon their bodies, they were so still.

The Beloved Messenger of Allah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam Himself, used to remain in a state of prostration for most of the night, until it was thought that His Blessed Soul had been taken away from Him.

These are some of the examples that we should follow, and not the concessions, that the shari'ah allows.


Jazak'allah for your question.





Wallahu A'lamu Biththawaab


M. Waseem Ashrafi