The 365 · Sunnah · Day 35 · Prayer
Lengthening the Sujud · The Closest Position to Allah
The hadith
أَقْرَبُ مَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَهُوَ سَاجِدٌ، فَأَكْثِرُوا الدُّعَاءَ
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'The closest the servant is to his Lord is when he is in sajdah, so increase your du'a' in it.' (Sahih Muslim 482, narrated by Abu Hurayrah ra.)
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ sade: 'Tjänarens närmaste position till sin Herre är när han är i sujud, så öka era duor i den.'
Sahih Muslim 482 (Abu Hurayrah); Sunan an-Nasa'i 1141 (al-Hasan/al-Husayn climbing); 'A'ishah's descriptions of long prayers in the Two Sahihs
The story
The Prophet ﷺ would extend his sujud. 'A'ishah ra. described his prayer: he would prolong qiyam (standing), ruku' (bowing), and sujud to a degree that the Companions sometimes feared he had passed away. He once made a single sajdah so long that the Companions became concerned (Sunan an-Nasa'i 1141, the al-Hasan/al-Husayn climbing hadith). The pattern was sustained: long, deliberate, present sujud.
Why it's here
Sajdah is anatomically the position of greatest humility: the highest part of the body (the head) on the lowest position (the ground). The Prophet ﷺ named it as the closest the servant ever is to Allah. The Sunnah of Day 35 is to extend the sajdah, increase du'a' in it, and treat each one as a privileged audience with the Most Merciful.
Try it today
1. After the obligatory tasbih ('subhana rabbiya al-a'la'), make your du'a' in sajdah. Use any language; the du'a' is private between you and Allah.
2. Increase the time. Even an extra ten seconds per sajdah, multiplied across daily prayers, becomes substantial du'a' time over a year.
3. Do this especially in nafilah prayers, where you have more freedom.
In your day
Most rushed prayers have sajdahs of 3-5 seconds. Extend yours to 15-30 seconds. Use the time for specific named du'a's: by name, with specific requests. The Prophet ﷺ said it is the closest moment; treat the time as sacred.
A reflection to carry
The length of sujūd: prolonging the prostration. The Prophet ﷺ: 'The closest a servant comes to his Lord is when he is in sujūd; so make abundant duʿāʾ.' (Muslim 482.) Sujūd is the structurally closest position.
Read the longer reflection
The Companions reported that the Prophet's ﷺ sujūd was so long that Anas ibn Mālik would estimate one could recite 50 verses during it (Bukhārī 821). The Prophet's ﷺ duʿāʾ in sujūd was personal, intense, and varied. Cure: prolong your sujūd; after the obligatory tasbīḥ (subḥāna rabbiya al-aʿlā) three times, make personal duʿāʾ in any language; ask Allah for what you need. Modern hurried sujūd misses the structural closeness-window. The Prophet's ﷺ specific sujūd-duʿāʾs preserved in Sunnah include several that are structurally weighted; integrate them into your prostration-practice.
Sources: Sahih Muslim, Nasai. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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