When to sit mutawarrikan in prayer

Sitting mutawarrikan in
prayer is a proven Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him). Al-Bukhaari narrated from Abu Humayd al-Saa’idi (may Allaah be
pleased with him), a description of the prayer of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him), in which he said: “And when he sat in
the final rak’ah, he put his left foot forward and held the other foot
upright, and sat on his behind.” 

Tawarruk or sitting
mutawarrikan may be done in different ways: 

1 – The left foot is laid
down and the right foot is held upright, and both are held out to the right,
with the buttocks on the ground. 

2 – Both feet are laid down
and held out to the right side, and the buttocks are on the ground. 

Secondly: 

The scholars (may Allaah
have mercy on them) differed as to when one should sit mutawarrikan in
prayer. The Hanbalis are of the view that tawarruk should be done in the
final tashahhud if there are two tashahhuds in the prayer. But if the prayer
has only one tashahhud, such as Fajr prayer or Sunnah prayers that are
offered two by two, then one should sit muftarishan (in which one sits on the left foot and the right foot is held upright). 

Al-Bahooti (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said in Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’ (1/364): Then he should sit
in the second tashahhud of a prayer that consists of three rak’ahs or more
mutawarrikan, because of the hadeeth of Abu Humayd, who described him as
sitting muftarishan in the first tashahhud and mutawarrikan in the second,
This explains the difference between them and this is a description of
something additional that should be adopted. In that case it is not Sunnah
to sit mutawarrikan, except in a prayer in which there are two tashahhuds,
in the last of them. End quote. 

The Shaafa’is are of the
view that sitting mutawarrikan is mustahabb in the last tashahhud of all
prayers, whether they have two tashahhuds or just one. That is because of
the general meaning of the hadeeth of Abu Humayd quoted above, in which it
says “when he sat in the last rak’ah.” 

Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said in Fath al-Baari:  

Al-Shaafa’i also quoted it
as evidence that the tashahhud in Fajr prayer is like the final tashahhud in
any other prayer, because of the general meaning of his words: “in the final
tashahhud.” End quote. 

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo’ (3/431): Our view is that it is
mustahabb to sit muftarishan in the first tashahhud and mutawarrikan in the
second. If the prayer is of two rak’ahs then he should sit mutawarrikan. End
quote. 

The most correct view is
that of the Hanbalis, which was favoured by the scholars of the Standing
Committee for Issuing Fatwas. (Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz and Shaykh
‘Abd-Allaah ibn Qa’ood). 

See: Fataawa al-Lajnah
al-Daa’imah (7/15). 

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni (1/318): One should not sit
mutawarrikan in any of the sittings in prayer except in the second
tashahhud, because of the hadeeth of Waa’il ibn Hujr, which says that when
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sat for the
tashahhud “he lay his left foot down and held his right foot upright” and he
did not differentiate between the (tashahhud) in which he said the salaam
and that in which he did not say the salaam. ‘Aa’ishah said: “The Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite
al-tahiyyah following each two rak’ahs, and he lay his left foot down and
held the right foot upright.” Narrated by Muslim. These two (reports) imply
that one should sit in the manner described here in every tashahhud. End
quote. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may
Allaah have mercy on him) was asked in Liqa’ al-Baab il-Maftooh: When
should a worshipper sit mutawarrikan in prayer, and in which prayers? 

He replied: Tawarruk is
done in the final tashahhud of every prayer that has two tashahhuds, i.e.,
the last tashahhud in Maghrib, and in ‘Isha’, and in ‘Asr, and in Zuhr. As
for the two-rak’ah prayers, such as Fajr, and the regular Sunnah prayers,
there is no tawarruk in them. So tawarruk is only in the last tashahhud of
every prayer that has two tashahhuds. End quote. 

For more information please
see the answer to question no. 13340. 

And Allaah knows best.