‘Azā’im or ‘Azā’im al-Sujūd (Arabic: عزائم السجود) refers to suras of al-Sajda (Qur'an 32), Fussilat (Qur'an 41), al-Najm, (Qur'an 53) and al-'Alaq, (Qur'an 96) in each of which there is a verse upon hearing or reading which, it becomes obligatory to perform prostration. There are some rulings about these suras: reciting them is forbidden for women during their menstruation and junub persons and these suras should not be recited in obligatory prayers.

Special dhikrs for obligatory prostrations in the Qur'an have been mentioned, but even so, they do not require wudu, ghusl, facing the Qibla, and no special dhikr is required for them. However, the forehead should be placed on something that is correct in prostration.

Naming

'Aza'im or 'Aza'im al-Sujud refers to the four suras of al-Sajda, Fussilat, al-Najm, and al-'Alaq, each of which contains a verse with obligatory prostration.[1] In some sources, Sura Luqman (Qur'an 31) is mentioned instead of Sura Fussilat.[2][3] The word "'aza'im“ is the plural of "'azima" and literally means a serious will to do something.[4] It also means the duties that God has made obligatory.[5] Therefore, the mentioned suras, in which the verses with obligatory prostration are mentioned, are called "'aza'im".[6]

Verses requiring prostration

According to Shiite jurists, Qur'an 32:15, Qur'an 41:37, Qur'an 53:62, and Qur'an 96:19 require prostration.[7] Also, according to Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi (the author of Jawahir), eleven verses of the Qur'an in ten suras have recommended prostration.[8] These verses are verse Qur'an 7:206, Qur'an 13:15, Qur'an 16:49,50, Qur'an 17:109, Qur'an 19:58, Qur'an 22:18,77, Qur'an 25:60, Qur'an 27:26, Qur'an 38:24, and Qur'an 84:21.[9] According to what has been attributed to Shaykh Saduq, the existence of the word "sajda" in the verse entails recommended prostration.[10]

Shiite jurists, referring to narrations from Imam al-Sadiq (a), believe that prostration is obligatory only in the four mentioned suras.[11] Shafi'i, Hanbali, and Hanafi Sunni jurists, without differentiating between recommended and obligatory prostrations in the Qur'an, consider the number of verses requiring prostration to be 14, and Maliki jurists consider them to be eleven.[12]

Related rulings

" لا اِلهَ اِلَّا اللهُ حَقًّا حَقًّا، لا اِلهَ اِلَّا اللهُ ایماناً وَ تَصْدیقاً، لا اِلهَ اِلَّا اللهُ عُبُودِیةً وَرِقّاً، سَجَدْتُ لَک یا رَبِّ تَعَبَّداً وَرِقّاً، لا مُسْتَنْکفاً وَ لا مُسْتَکبِراً، بَلْ اَنَا عَبْدٌ ذَلیلٌ ضَعیفٌ خائفٌ مُسْتَجیرٌ "[13]

" There is no god but Allah, truly, truly. There is no god but Allah, I believe in this certainly and I affirm it certainly. There is no god but Allah, I testify this in servitude and as a slave. I prostrate to You, O my Lord, in servitude and as a slave; not disdainfully nor arrogantly. Rather, I am a servant lowly, weak, fearing, and seeking refuge. "

Suras of 'Aza'im and their related rulings have been discussed in the chapters of purity[14] and prayer[15] in the books of jurisprudence. According to jurists, these suras have special rulings, including:

  • Reciting them is forbidden for women during their menstruation[16] and for junub persons[17]. Jurists disagree on whether it is forbidden for such women to recite only the verses requiring prostration or it is forbidden for them to recite the entire suras.[18] Allama Hilli has said that it is forbidden for these women to recite even one word of the mentioned suras.[19] But, if they hear the verses requiring prostration, it is obligatory for them to prostrate.[20]
  • According to the fatwa of Shiite jurists, deliberately reciting suras with obligatory prostration in obligatory prayers invalidates the prayer.[21] If someone recites one of these suras inadvertently in prayer if he realizes it before reaching the verse requiring prostration or half of the sura, he should leave the sura and recite another sura, and if he realizes it after the verse requiring prostration or half of the sura, there is a disagreement among marja’s on how to perform prostration and the prayer.[22] According to the fatwa of Imam Khomeini, in this case, the person should prostrate with a gesture and only recite the sura having prostration.[23] Also, according to the fatwa of Ayatollah Sistani and Sayyid Musa Shubayri Zanjani, if the person does not perform the obligatory prostration, his prayer is valid even though he has committed a sin.[24]
  • The obligatory prostration in the Qur'an is immediate obligation. Therefore, by reciting or hearing the verses requiring prostration from the suras of 'Aza'im, prostration becomes obligatory immediately.[25]
  • For obligatory prostrations in the Qur'an, wudu, ghusl, facing the Qibla, and special dhikrs are not required, but the forehead should be placed on something on which prostration is correct.[26] However, special dhikrs have been mentioned for obligatory prostration.[27]

Notes

  1. Ṭurayḥī, Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn, vol. 6, p. 114.
  2. Ṭūsī, al-Khilāf, vol. 1, p. 100.
  3. It is possible that this interpretation, which is used in the words of most of the old jurists, refers to Surah Sajdah, which is placed after Surah Luqman. In the order of the Qur'an, Surah Luqman is the 31st Surah and Surah Sajdah is the 32nd Surah. (Ṭūsī, Al-Khilāf, vol. 1, p. 100.)
  4. Fīrūz Ābādī, al-Qāmūs al-muḥiṭ, vol. 4, p. 112; Ṭurayḥī, Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn, vol. 6, p. 114.
  5. Fīrūz Ābādī, al-Qāmūs al-muḥiṭ, vol. 4, p. 112; Ṭurayḥī, Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn, vol. 6, p. 114.
  6. Ṭurayḥī, Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn, vol. 6, p. 114.
  7. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 577.
  8. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 10, p. 217.
  9. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 577-578.
  10. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 10, p. 217.
  11. Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, vol. 2, p. 291, h. 26-27.
  12. Jazīrī, al-Fiqh ʿalā al-madhāhib al-arbaʿa, vol. 1, p. 425.
  13. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 584.
  14. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 510 and 603.
  15. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 578.
  16. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 603.
  17. Yazdī,al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 510.
  18. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 510 and 603; Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marajiʿ, vol. 1, p. 225-227 and 276.
  19. Ḥillī, Mukhtalaf al-Shīʿa, vol. 1, p. 333.
  20. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 583.
  21. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 580; Khomeiniī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil (muḥashā), vol. 1, p. 545.
  22. Khomeiniī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil (muḥashā), vol. 1, p. 545-546.
  23. Khomeiniī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil (muḥashā), vol. 1, p. 545.
  24. Khomeiniī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil (muḥashā), vol. 1, p. 546.
  25. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 578.
  26. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 582-583.
  27. Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 584.

References

  • Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥasan. Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marajiʿ. Tehran: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī affiliated to Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1383 Sh.
  • Fīrūz Ābādī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb. Al-Qāmūs al-muḥiṭ. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1415 AH.
  • Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan al-. Mukhtalaf al-Shīʿa fī aḥkām al-sharīʿa. Qom: Jāmiʿat al-Mudarrisīn, 1413 AH.
  • Jazīrī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Al-Fiqh ʿalā al-madhāhib al-arbaʿa. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1424/2003.
  • Khomeiniī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil (muḥashā). Edited by Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥasan. 8th edition. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1424 AH.
  • Najafī, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Edited by ʿAbbās Qūchānī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1404 AH.
  • Ṭurayḥī, Fakhr al-Dīn b. Muḥammad al-. Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn. Tehran: Kitābfurūshī-yi Murtaḍawī, 1416 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥaasn al-. Al-Khilāf. Edited by ʿAlī Khurāsānī et.al. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1407 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tahdhīb al-aḥkām. Edited by Sayyid Ḥasan al-Khirsān. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1407 AH.
  • Yazdī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. Al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1419 AH.