Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 275
حَدَّثَنَا هَنَّادٌ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " إِذَا سَجَدَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَعْتَدِلْ وَلاَ يَفْتَرِشْ ذِرَاعَيْهِ افْتِرَاشَ الْكَلْبِ " . قَالَ وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ شِبْلٍ وَأَنَسٍ وَالْبَرَاءِ وَأَبِي حُمَيْدٍ وَعَائِشَةَ . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى حَدِيثُ جَابِرٍ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ . وَالْعَمَلُ عَلَيْهِ عِنْدَ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ يَخْتَارُونَ الاِعْتِدَالَ فِي السُّجُودِ وَيَكْرَهُونَ الاِفْتِرَاشَ كَافْتِرَاشِ السَّبُعِ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hannad narrated to us: Abu Muawiyah narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from Abu Sufyan, from Jabir, that the Prophet said: ‘When one of you prostrates, let him maintain a balanced posture and not spread his forearms on the ground as a dog does.’
Reports on this subject are also related from Abd al-Rahman ibn Shibl, Anas, al-Bara, Abu Humayd, and A’ishah. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Jabir is hasan sahih. The scholars acted on this: they preferred maintaining a balanced posture in prostration and disliked spreading the forearms like a predatory animal.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report contrasts a balanced prostration with resting the forearms flat on the ground, likened to a dog and, in the commentary, a predatory animal.