What Islamic law says about sitting with your knees held, and when it is permitted

Sitting while embracing the knees, known in Islamic jurisprudence as ihtiba, may look ordinary, but its use during the Friday sermon has prompted a specific legal discussion. The position involves drawing both knees toward the chest and holding them with the hands.

The prohibition during the Friday sermon is based on a hadith attributed to Mu'adh bin Anas al-Juhani: “The Prophet forbade sitting with the knees held on Friday while the imam is delivering the sermon.” Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi recorded the hadith, and al-Tirmidhi regarded it as hasan, or good.

Scholars differ over how the ruling should be understood. Some regard sitting in this way during the sermon as makruh, meaning discouraged, rather than haram, or forbidden. Their reasoning includes the concern that the posture could make a worshipper sleepy or cause the person to miss the sermon.

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The Prophet forbade sitting with the knees held on Friday while the imam is delivering the sermon.

One explanation cited in the discussion says: “The Prophet’s prohibition of sitting with the knees held during the Friday sermon is because this posture can bring on sleep, causing a person not to hear the sermon and creating the possibility that their ablution may be broken.”

At the same time, reports indicate that some companions sat in the ihtiba position while a sermon was taking place. Those reports form part of the basis for scholars who do not treat the practice as an absolute prohibition.

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The Prophet’s prohibition of sitting with the knees held during the Friday sermon is because this posture can bring on sleep, causing a person not to hear the sermon and creating the possibility that their ablution may be broken.