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What is the ruling on leaning on the left hand behind the back, or on the elbow of the left hand, or on the right hand behind the back, or on both hands behind the back together?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The noble Prophetic Hadith states the dislike of leaning on the left palm behind the back, because it is the sitting posture of those who have incurred Allah's wrath. Scholars have differed regarding leaning on both hands or the right hand; some have included it in the prohibition of leaning on the left, while others have restricted the prohibition to the left hand only. This latter view is closer to the truth, as the default ruling for leaning is permissibility. As for leaning on the left elbow, it is permissible, as there is no evidence to prohibit it.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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