Pictures of President Muhammadu Buhari praying while sitting on a chair have elicited a lot of comments from Nigerians on the social media platforms of Aminiya, the Hausa version of Daily Trust newspapers.
The debate followed the pictures of President Buhari observing Eid-el-Fitr prayers with his immediate family on May 24, 2020 and those of him performing the Friday prayers on June 5, 2020, at the State House, Abuja.
On both occasions, the president was seen on a chair while observing two raka’at (units) of prayers led by the Chief Imam of the State House Mosque, Abdul-Wahid Suleiman.
“What does this mean?”, one of the commentators, Rasheedat Abdallah asked.
“While praying Eid, I saw Buhari on a chair [and I] see him now still sitting on a chair while praying Jumu’ah?”, she added.
Another commentator, Aminu Abbas, was equally dumbfounded.
“I am confused – for Eid prayer [which was conducted in the open] I saw the president sitting on a chair and now, inside the mosque, I see him sitting on a char.
“Where are our scholars?”, he quizzed.
‘It’s not unusual’
But, according to other commentators like Hauwa’u Ahmad, there was nothing unusual in what they saw.
“Maybe he has problem bending, or [he has] back pain or [an ailment in his] legs; and it is permissible if you cannot bend in prostration, for you to pray that way – you can even pray while lying down…”, she says.
Although the mode of prayers which the president has been adopting for long – even before the lockdown measures put in place due to COVID-19 pandemic – is not unusual, these Nigerians may have been expressing these views because they expect their president to be on his feet.
In essence, what the commentators were asking is: why does the president pray while sitting on a chair?
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, declined comments on the matter.
However, a reliable source in the Presidency said there was nothing unusual about the issue as most elderly people do so.
Scholars’ views
Speaking on the Islamic ruling on the president’s mode of prayer, the founder of Al-Mustofiyya Islamic Society of Nigeria (MISN), Ustaz Maisuna M. Yahya, said that President Buhari was right to sit to observe the Muslim prayers in mosques or at home.
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 in 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).
On his part, the Chief Imam, Fouad Lababidi Central Mosque, Wuse, Abuja, Dr Tajudeen Bello Adigun, said that President Buhari was right to observe the prayers while sitting.
According to him, what the president did is in accordance with the Sharia and that Sharia is not to make things difficult but to make things easy for Muslims and mankind.
He also said that those linking the sitting of the President to his ability to govern were wrong as his sitting for prayers is not linked to his mental capability.
“There are reasons for one to sit in prayers either on chairs, mats or even lying down.
“On his age, Nigerians knew that he was not a young man when they elected him…
“He has been attending meetings, even standing for hours.
“So, linking his sitting for prayers to his ability to lead the country are not the same,” Dr. Bello said.
