Pictures of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) praying while sitting on a chair, have attracted reactions from Nigerians on social media.
Some of them questioned the health status of the APC chieftain who is one of the leading presidential candidates for the 2023 elections.
Islamic scholars have, however, explained that one can sit on a chair while praying due to factors such as health and old age.
The reactions followed the pictures of Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate, observing Eid-el-Kabir prayers at the Lagos central mosque, Oluwole on Saturday, July 9.
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The pictures were shared on Twitter by Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Another Twitter user, Endbadpolitics, @endbadpolitics, reacted: “Why is he sitting down? Muslims don’t sit down !!!! This man is not well ”
“And why is baba not sitting as others?”, Akinrinmade Isaac, @activeKolins, queried.
Islamic postulations on sitting down while praying
Speaking on the Islamic ruling on the mode of prayer, the founder of Al-Mustofiyya Islamic Society of Nigeria (MISN), Ustaz Yahya, said it was right to sit to observe the Muslim prayers in mosques or at home, Daily Trust reports.
The Islamic scholar was reacting to a similar development when some Nigerians asked why President Muhammadu Buhari also sits on a chair while praying.
According to Ustaz Yahya, the postures in daily prayers or supererogatory prayers as recommended in Islamic law vary, depending on every individual’s status of health.
“Standing, if one has the capacity, where one doesn’t, perhaps due to ill-health, weakness, feebleness, dizziness among others, then sitting down, whether on a mat, or on a chair is recommended next to standing posture.
“However, if the two aforementioned positions become impossible, then, one can lay on one’s right side, left side, abdomen or back to observe his or her prayers,” Yahya said citing a verse of the Glorious Qur’an, Surah Al-Imran verse 191 (Q3:191).
Also reacting to President Buhari’s case, the Chief Imam, Fouad Lababidi Central Mosque, Wuse, Abuja, Dr Tajudeen Bello Adigun, said it was right to observe the prayers while sitting.
According to him, sitting on a chair while praying is in accordance with the Sharia and that Sharia is not to make things difficult but to make things easy for Muslims and mankind.