Sujūd (Arabic: سُجود, [sʊˈdʒuːd]), or sajdah (Arabic: سجدة, pronounced [ˈsadʒda(tu)]), is an Arabic word meaning prostration to God (Arabic: الله Allah) in the direction of the Kaaba at Mecca which is usually done during the daily prayers (salat). While in sujud, a Muslim is to praise and glorify Allah. The position involves having the forehead, nose, both hands, knees and all toes touching the ground together.
Sujud (prostration) is one of the main pillars of daily prayer in Islam. A single act of sujud is called a sajdah (plural sajadāt). Muslims do sujud several times in each prayer, depending on the number of raka'at of prayer: two sajadat are performed every raka'ah, and prayers vary in obligatory length between two and four raka'at (additional supererogatory raka'at are often performed as sunnah muakkadah, or emulation of the example of Muhammad as represented in the sahih hadith). A raka'ah is a unit of set actions that have to be performed in a prayer. The shortest fard (obligatory) Muslim prayer is that of fajr, performed immediately before sunrise. It consists of two raka'ah. The raka'ah can be described as follows:
Points 1-7 define one raka'ah. Thus, the shortest prayer, that of fajr, contains four sajadat. For Hanafis, witr prayer is three raka'ahs, which is for them considered wajib, a level of necessity below that of fard but above all else: in practice, this makes witr obligatory.