# What to Say in Rukoo' | Episode 6 | Secrets of Salah | The Hidden Gems of Prayer

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Secrets of Salah | Dhul Hijjah 2025
**Published:** 2025-06-01
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/Jxeo0UQ1JyU
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/secrets-of-salah-dhul-hijjah-2025/what-to-say-in-rukoo-episode-6-secrets-of-salah-the-hidden-gems-of-prayer
**Topics:** Faith

## Description
You bow. You rise. You whisper words you’ve said a thousand times. But what if every motion of salah held its own key to khushoo’? In this series, go deeper into the language, the postures, and the presence of salah. Join Dr. Omar Suleiman to spend the 10 days of Dhul Hijjah exploring the most...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** The whole salah is breaking down the ego, layer by layer. Al-Fatiha is breaking part of your ego. Rukoo' is breaking part of your ego. Sujood is going to be the ultimate breakage of your ego. Rukoo' is submission to a king who commands you. Sujood is submission to a king who welcomes you.

**[0:19]** Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. Then we go, Allah is the greatest again. Now, SubhanAllah, because Hajj again is vivid,

**[0:34]** and Umrah is vivid, takbir is the slogan of salah. Allah is the greatest is the slogan of salah. Just like talbiyah, labbayk Allahumma labbayk, is the slogan of Hajj. When you go from station to station in Hajj, you repeat the talbiyah over and over again.

**[0:52]** So you keep going back to that. And the idea here is that if you got distracted, you come back to the greatness of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and leave off what is smaller again. And so, just as in talbiyah, you go from transition to transition with the same words,

**[1:08]** the same thing is true with the salah. I also want to say that there is no harm when you're praying alone. If you got lost somewhere in your salah, to go back to the point in which you got lost, to recite from where the point you got lost. So if you realize, you know, I got distracted at this point as a means of training yourself, go back to where you got lost and read that part,

**[1:27]** so long as you haven't gone into the next station. And the Prophet (ﷺ) would read ayah by ayah of Surah Al-Fatiha. So try to read slowly, measured, and until you have the meaning absorbed, then you move on to the next verse bi-idhnillah ta'ala. So you say, Allahu

**[1:44]** Akbar, and you go into now a state of rukoo', a state of bowing. Now, when you bow, what do you say? SubhanAllah, Subhana Rabbial Adheem. Okay, in rukoo', you say, Subhana Rabbial Adheem.

**[2:03]** So you glorify Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's perfection, particularly calling upon Allah with Al-Adheem. And in that process, what are you doing? You're removing the glory of yourself and anyone else as it diminishes in comparison to the glory of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

**[2:23]** So how perfect is my Rabb, Subhana Rabbi? By the way, this is in and of itself Subhana Rabbi, something beautiful, because Subhana, if you think of sibah, like swimming, like something is above the water, Subhana is to separate Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala from the creation to glorify His

**[2:42]** perfection and to remove from Him any attribution of imperfection, right? But Subhana Rabbi, how perfect is my Lord? That in and of itself shows that despite that perfection, He's not distant from me, Subhana Rabbial Adheem. Now, Al-Adheem means, if you look it up,

**[3:02]** the one who is almighty, and one of the notions of His being Al-Adheem is that He's unshakable. The stability of that power, that glory, it's an immovable glory, an immovable power.

**[3:18]** And if you think about your rukoo', physically, it's the most unstable you actually are in your entire salah, right? Like if you think about your weight distribution and things of that sort, it's the most unstable that you actually are is when you're bowing to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and you're referring to Allah 'Azza wa Jal as Al-Adheem, immovable, right? Almighty, strong,

**[3:39]** stable, that He is always endowed in His glory, Subhana Rabbial Adheem. And if you say, and with praise, then remember thanat means layers. So it's a layer of praise upon that glory.

**[3:57]** What else did the Prophet (ﷺ) used to say? Subuhun Quddusun Rabbul Mala'ikati War Ruh. Subuh, Quddus, Rabbul Mala'ika War Ruh. So the one, Subuh, the one that is always perfect. Quddus, the one who is always sacred.

**[4:16]** Meaning Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is not one that we ever take lightly, right? We always glorify Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Subuhun Quddus Rabbul Mala'ikati War Ruh. The Lord of the Angels and Ar-Ruh Jibreel (عليه السلام). And Jibreel (عليه السلام), this is a part of his position that he

**[4:37]** has taqsis here. He's mentioned specifically here amongst the angels. And so this is what you say, but let's go to rukoo'. What's the connection of rukoo'? Remember I told you when we broke down the position that everyone has a very particular ingredient, a very particular outcome that is

**[4:53]** supposed to come out of you. Rukoo' is a form of humbling yourself to the command of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Again imagine the king when you bow to someone. Allah 'Azza wa Jal says, War Ka'u Ma'a Ar-Raki'een. And this is specifically bow down with those who bow

**[5:11]** in the capacity of Bani Israel. And if you think about Bani Israel, Bani Israel glorified itself and other things, and they sought to diminish Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala by belittling His commands. So Allah 'Azza wa Jal mentions rukoo' as the opposite here of arrogance towards what

**[5:26]** He has commanded you to do, right? Wa Itha Qeela Lahum Ar-Ka'u. When they are told to bow, La Yar-Ka'u. They don't bow. So you bow down in submissiveness to His commands, as the scholars mentioned. Also, War-Ka'u Ma'a Ar-Raki'een means pray in jama'ah too,

**[5:44]** pray in congregation, bow amongst those who bow. It has a very specific connotation here. But you have to see rukoo' and sujood both as means of breaking the ego. The whole salah is breaking down the ego, layer by layer, right? Al-Fatiha is breaking part of your ego. Rukoo'

**[6:00]** is breaking part of your ego. Sujood is going to be the ultimate breakage of your ego. And so rukoo' is submission to a king who commands you. Sujood is submission to a king who welcomes you. It's actually incredible when you think about how they compliment one another. Rukoo',

**[6:20]** the focus is on glorifying Him Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Sujood, the focus is on closeness to Him Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And as some of the scholars mentioned, if we only had rukoo' in our salah, which by the way, there are some religions, they only do rukoo', they don't do sujood.

**[6:36]** If we only have rukoo' in our salah, then it's actually quite, it can be quite alienating, right? Because it's like Allah 'Azza wa Jal is inaccessible, but its perfection is in its coming together. So as great as Allah is, He welcomes you to closeness despite your imperfections

**[6:56]** and your shortcomings, right? So rukoo' is glorifying Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, the way that you bow to a king, the way that you honor the king of all kings, and you recognize His 'adhamah, you recognize His greatness, right? And it would be alienating without the sujood. Another way to

**[7:14]** really SubhanAllah understand this, if any of you have ever prayed salatul khusuf or khusuf, the prayer of the eclipse, one of the unique things about the prayer of the eclipse, the lunar or the solar, is that there's an additional rukoo'. You make rukoo' and then you come back and you read

**[7:32]** again and then you go on rukoo' again and then you come back and then you go to sujood, right? Of the wisdoms of that, that can be derived is, you know, there is a great sense of trepidation when you realize the greatness of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in His creation around you and how vulnerable you

**[7:50]** are to that. And that expression of vulnerability to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in how He commands and you have no share in how or what He commands Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And so there's a helplessness as you glorify Allah and His majesty and His control of the heavens and the earth. Then you rise.

**[8:13]** Allah has heard the one who praised Him. To you all Allah belongs all praise. Again, a good assumption of Allah. When you said Amin in Al-Fatiha, you make the assumption that Allah 'Azza wa Jal has answered your request for guidance.

**[8:29]** When you praise Allah in your rukoo' now, you make the assumption that Allah 'Azza wa Jal has heard your praise and you affirm that He heard your praise, that the Lord has received your praise. Allah has heard the one who has praised Him. To you all Allah belongs all praise.

**[8:48]** There's the story, SubhanAllah, of the man who was behind the Prophet (ﷺ) and after he rose from his rukoo', he said, Rabbana wa lakal hamd, hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan feeh. Okay. And Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, you know, this is so beautiful as He's listening to this

**[9:08]** man's praise. Allah sends the angels to him and the Prophet (ﷺ) after the salah, he said, who said that? Who made that du'a? And he wasn't saying that to admonish. He said, I saw 30 angels, each one of them trying to catch, record that praise that you just said

**[9:24]** after your rukoo'. Rabbana wa lakal hamd, hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan feeh. You know, I always use this to think about Laylatul Qadr. If 30 angels coming cause that type of a reaction from the Prophet (ﷺ), what about when there are so many angels that are coming down that it fills the heavens and the earth? Like there's no space

**[9:43]** because of all of the angels that are coming down to record the praise of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's 'ibad. And we have to remember that when we're engaged in salah, as the narration of Sayyidun Musayyib, that even when you pray on waterless lands, there are mala'ika that are praying with

**[9:59]** you, amthalul jibal, that are the size of mountains. There are angels that are witnessing your qira'ah, your recitation. There are angels that are enjoying the breath. If you use the siwak or you brushed your teeth before the salah, there are angels that are taking the praise to Allah 'Azza wa Jal. There are angels that are saying ameen with you. There are angels that are still seeking forgiveness

**[10:18]** for you, right? They're all around you. Rabbana wa lakal hamd, hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan feeh. What does that mean? To you, O Allah belongs the praise, alhamd. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, rabbana wa lakal hamd, hamdan, kathiran, abundant, quantity, tayyiban, pure, right? Mubarakan feeh,

**[10:42]** right? Blessed within. And mubarak here is comprehensive of both kathiran tayyib. Mubarak means it is extolled. Like when you have baraka in something, it's expanded, right? Hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan feeh. Also of the du'as of the Prophet (ﷺ),

**[11:02]** mil'as-samawati wa mil'al ardi wa mil'a mashitta min shay'un ba'd. mil'as-samawati wa mil'al ardi wa mil'a mashitta min shay'un ba'd. Which means that all praise is due to you. Alhamd, that fills everything between the earth or fills the earth and fills the heavens

**[11:23]** and fills everything in between. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, SubhanAllahi wa bihamdihi tamla'an. It fills up what is between the heavens and the earth. And this is equivalent to rabbil alameen, the Lord of all the worlds, because you're acknowledging in rabbil alameen that there are

**[11:38]** worlds that you have no access to, but you know they exist. And Allah 'Azza wa Jal is the Lord of all those worlds as well. Now you're trying to speak praise into all of that. That, Ya Allah, I want my praise to be recorded for every single part of that existence. I praise you for all of it. How

**[11:55]** are you going to meet Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala with that much praise? How are the angels even going to be able to capture that? And how merciful is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala that He records all of that for you? So you have, سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَ رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ حَمْدًا كَثِيرًا طَيِّبًا مُبَارَكًا فِيهِ مِلْأَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَمِلْأَ الْأَرْضِ وَمِلْأَ مَا شِئْتَ مِنْ شَيْءٍ بَعْدٍ

**[12:16]** There's one more narration that I will share here. It's the authentic narration from Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri (رضي الله عنه) that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say that he would say, سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَ رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ حَمْدًا مِلْأَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَمِلْأَ الْأَرْضِ وَمِلْأَ مَا شِئْتَ مِنْ شَيْءٍ بَعْدٍ

**[12:36]** أَهْلَ الثَّنَٓاءِ وَالْمَجْدِ خَيْرُ مَا قَالَ الْعَبْدِ وَكُلُّنَا لَكَ عَبْدٌ لَا مَانِعَ لِمَا أَعْطَيْتْ وَلَا يَنْفَعُ ذَا الْجَدِّ مِنْكَ الْجَدُّ This du'a is so beautiful. The Prophet (ﷺ) would say,

**[12:51]** And to you, O Allah, belongs the praise filling the heavens, filling the earth, and filling whatever else is beyond. Lord of all glory and majesty, the truest thing that a slave has ever said. And we are all slaves to you. None can withhold what you grant, nor can the possession of anyone benefit him more before you.

**[13:13]** Or nor can the possession of an owner benefit him before you. SubhanAllah, this is so powerful because again, the more that you praise Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, the better. So this maqam, this station of standing after the rukoo' is a station of praising Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

**[13:29]** So build off your praise. How long can you praise Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala? The Prophet (ﷺ) would spend as much time saying, رَبِّ لَكَ الْحَمْدِ Or, وَلِ رَبِّ الْحَمْدِ Or, رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْدِ He would spend as much time doing this standing as he would in his rukoo' itself.

**[13:44]** There's a narration of Hudhayfah ibn Yaman (رضي الله عنه) where he said that, One time I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) in his qiyam, I decided to join him. So in his qiyam, he started and he reads so slow and beautiful (ﷺ), and then he reads Surah Al-Baqarah.

**[14:00]** So I thought he finished at a hundred verses, he kept going. Then he read 200 verses, I thought he'd stop at 200, he kept going. Then he finished Al-Baqarah, his first rakah. Then I thought, okay, now we'll go into rukoo'. Then he read An-Nisa. I thought he'd stop at a hundred, the Prophet (ﷺ) finished An-Nisa.

**[14:17]** Then he went back, he read Ali 'Imran. I thought he'd stop at a hundred, he finished all of Ali 'Imran in one rakah (ﷺ). Then his rukoo' was as long as his qiyam. Then his standing after rukoo' was as long as his rukoo'. Then his sajda was as long as that.

**[14:34]** Then the time between the sajdas was as long as that. Prophet (ﷺ) gives every single portion of the salah, it's due. And you know what's incredible is that this is the point of salah that most people lose their salah. Most people invalidate their salah here. Or amongst those who invalidate their salah,

**[14:51]** this is the position where more people invalidate their salah than anyone. Why? Because there's the opposite. Prophet (ﷺ) walks in, he sees a man praying and he says to him, pray for you have not prayed. And he tells him this three times. Why? Because every position of salah you have to attain

**[15:08]** a basic level of stillness and tranquility for it to be valid. Your bones have to settle, your posture has to settle. And you see people and they say, Sami' Allahu liman hamidah Rabbana lakal hamd they're already on their way down to sujood. And that salah doesn't count. It's not just the deficient salah, it's an invalid salah.

**[15:25]** And so more people lose their salah at that point than any other point of salah. Knowing the adhkar protects you from invalidating your salah by jumping straight into sujood. So look at the difference between the Prophet (ﷺ) who's standing from rukoo' was the same as his rukoo'

**[15:41]** and a person who Sami' Allahu liman hamidah Rabbana lakal hamd and then jumps into sujood before saying the proper adhkar in this regard. So you have the man who the 30 angels came and tried to record his praise because of the beauty of his praise. And you have a person who the Prophet (ﷺ) said,

**[15:57]** your salah did not even count at all. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, if you would have died on that salah, then you would have certainly been from the people of hell fire. So this is when you go back to those five categories of Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله), this is a person in category one.

**[16:12]** Then you go into sujood, as-sajdah. And Imam Ghazali (رحمه الله) says, then by His permissions, the permission of His majesty, you fall into sujood. SubhanAllah, this is a gift that Allah 'Azza wa Jal grants you that access

**[16:30]** that He lets you go into sujood. Now you have bowed to His command, you have acknowledged His majesty, you have praised Him, now you can come close. Now you can prostrate and come close.

**[16:47]** www.framero.com

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