Minimum glorification of Allah in bowing and prostration

📖Sunan al-Tirmidhī 261
Ibn Mas’ud reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “When one of you bows in prayer, let him say three times in his bowing: Glory be to my Lord, the Greatest. He will have completed his bowing and that is the least of it. Let him say three times in his prostration: Glory be to my Lord, the Most High. He will have completed his prostration and that is the least of it.”

Al-Tirmidhi said, “This was acted upon by the people of knowledge, that they preferred a man glorify Allah no less than three times in bowing and prostration.

This hadith teaches that glorifying Allah in bowing (rukūʿ) and prostration (sujūd) is the foundation of true worship. To glorify Allah is not conditional on receiving blessings; rather, it is because He alone is the source of our existence.

• He created Adam, and from him came all human lineage.
• He created our spirits before we came into the world.
• He designed the system by which we develop in the womb of our mothers.

📖Quran 76:2
Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture so We may test him, and We made him hearing and seeing.

📖Quran 56:71-73
Have you seen the fire that you kindle? Is it you who produced its tree, or are We the Producer? We have made it a reminder and a provision for the travelers in the wilderness.

📖Quran 39:62
Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is, over all things, Disposer of affairs.

Everything around us – the earth, food, medicine, and even the materials used in science and technology – originates from what Allah has created. Humans only discovered and combined these resources, but they did not create them from nothing.

List of what Allah created for us to glorify Him:

• The earth to live on
• The sky for protection
• Food and water for survival
• Medicines and healing elements from natural resources
• Materials like metals, wood, plants, and minerals used in technology and science
• Our very existence, from a drop to a fully developed human

Islam also reformed the corrupted system of marriage. Before the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, people practiced immoral and unjust marital customs. When he came, Islam established marriage upon faith and justice. That system led to the righteous unions of our parents and forefathers, shaping our existence today.

Quranic Context:

📖Quran 30:21
And among His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them, and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.

📖Quran 16:72
Allah has made for you spouses from yourselves and made for you through your spouses children and grandchildren, and He has provided you with good things. Will they then believe in falsehood and deny the favors of Allah?

So, when we say “Glory be to my Lord” in rukūʿ and sujūd, we acknowledge His perfection, His creation, and His favors – not because He gives us something in return, but because He is already the source of our very being and everything we use in this life.

📖Quran 56:74
So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most Great.

📖Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5971, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 593
Al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah reported: When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, finished the prayer and invoked peace, he would say, “There is no god but Allah, alone without partner. To him belongs the dominion, all praise, and he has power over all things. O Allah, none can prevent you from giving, and none can give to whomever you prevent. The riches of the rich are of no avail against you.

Note: The word ilah (god) here is lowercase because it refers to any false deity. The true God, the One Creator, is Allah.