It is not prescribed to do a single prostration for the sake of du’aa’

Some people, when they want to offer du'aa' after praying, prostrate
and offer du'aa' whilst prostrating. Is this prostration Sunnah?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Islam does not prescribe drawing close to Allaah bymeans of
prostration unless the prostration is in the prayer (salaah) or for a
specific reason, such as prostration of forgetfulness (sujood al-sahw,
if a mistake is made in the prayer), or prostration of recitation
(sujood al-tilaawah, required when reading certain verses of the
Qur'aan), or the prostration of gratitude (sujood al-shukr).
As for prostration for the sake of du'aa', there is nothing in
sharee'ah to indicate that it is permissible or mustahabb. Rather what
is proven from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him)
in many mutawaatir hadeeths is that he used to raise his hands in
du'aa', and he encouragedothers to do so. He said: "Your Lord, may He
be blessed and exalted, is characterized by modesty and generosity,
and He is so Kind to His slave that, ifHis slave raises his hands to
Him, He does not let him take them back empty." Narrated by Abu Dawood
(1488); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh Abi Dawood.
So prostrating for the sake of du'aa' is an innovation, because the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) did not do it, and
because it is forsaking theSunnah that the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allaah be upon him) encouraged, which is raising the hands in
du'aa'.
These scholars denouncedthis single prostration andforbade it. It was
mentioned by Abu Shaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) in his book
al-Baa'ith 'ala Inkaaral-Bida' wa'l-Hawaadith (p. 62, 63) and he said:
Imam al-Haramayn Abu'l-Ma'aali said: The author ofal-Taqreeb mentioned
from some of his companions that if a man submits to Allaah and
prostrates for no reason, he may do that, and I have not seen this
except with him. My Shaykh regarded that as makrooh, and objected
strongly to anyone who did that. He said: this is my view.
Abu Haamid al-Ghazali said: Shaykh Abu Muhammad (may Allaah have mercy
on him) objected strongly to the one who did that, and thisis the
correct view. He said in Kitaab al-Nadhr: No one was of the view that
prostration on its own becomes obligatory if one makes a vow to do
that, because it is not an act of worship for which there is a reason,
such as recitation (i.e., prostration of recitation).
Imam al-Haramayn said: My Shaykh was of the definite opinion that
prostration on its own does not become obligatory if one makes a vow
to do that, even though the reciter of the Qur'aan may prostrate, but
prostration on its ownfor no reason is not an actof worship according
to the correct view.
The author of al-Tatimmah said: Some people have the habit of
prostrating after they finish the prayer and saying du'aa' whilst
doingso. He said: We know of no basis for this prostration and it was
notnarrated from the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of
Allaah be upon him) or from his Companions. It is better to offer
du'aa' during the prayer, because of the reports that have been
narrated concerning that. And Allaah knows best.
I (Abu Shaamah) say: The fact that prostration is an act of worship
within prayer does not necessarily mean that it isan act of worship
outside of prayer, like bowing. Al-Faqeeh Abu Muhammad said: Islam
does not say that one may draw close to Allaah by doing a single
prostration for which there is no reason.

What should the personpraying behind an imam do if he recites a verse in which there is asajdah (prostration)?

What should I do if I recite a soorah in which there is a sajdah when
I am praying behind an imam?.
Praise be to Allaah.
You should not prostrate, because following the imam is obligatory and
the prostration of recitation is Sunnah. If a person is praying behind
an imam, it is not permissible for him to prostrate, and if he
prostrates deliberately although he knows that that is not
permissible, then his prayer becomes invalid.

Is it permissible to stick to tasbeeh and dhikr instead of sujood al tilaawah (prostration of recitation)?

Is it permissible to limit oneself to saying tasbeeh (Subhaan Allaah
wa'l-hamdu Lillaah wa laailaaha ill-Allaah wa laa hawla wa laa quwwata
illa Billaah - Glory be to Allah and praise be to Allah and there is
no God but Allah and there is no power and no strength except in
Allah) four timesinstead of doing the prostration of recitation?
Because it is said that if you come to a verse in which there is a
sajdah (prostration), instead of prostrating you can say the tasbeeh
mentioned above. Is there any basis or evidence for this?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The fuqaha' are agreed that the prostration of recitation is
prescribed, because of the verses and hadeeths that are narrated
concerning that. When the Muslim comes to a verse in which there is a
sajdah, it is prescribedfor him to prostrate, whether that is in
prayer or outside of prayer. Muslim narrated in his Saheeh (81) that
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When the son of
Adam recites a verse of prostration and prostrates, the Shaytaan
withdraws, weeping and saying: Woe unto him – according to the report
of Abu Kurayb: Woe unto me– the son of Adam was commanded to prostrate
and he prostrated, so Paradise will be his; I was commanded to
prostrate and I refused, so Hell is mine."
So it is essential for him toprostrate and it is not valid to recite
tasbeeh or any other dhikr instead ofthat; rather this is an
innovation which should be denounced.
It was narrated that 'Aa'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: "Whoever introduces into this matter of ours anything that is
not part of it will have it rejected." Agreed upon.
Al-Nawawi said:
This hadeeth represents an important principle of Islam, and it is an
example of the concise speech of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him), for it clearly rejects every innovation and
fabrication. End quote.
And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "you
must adhere to my Sunnah and the way of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
Hold on to it and cling fast to it. And beware of newly-invented
matters, for every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every
innovation is a going astray." Narrated byAbu Dawood (4607) and
classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (mayAllah have mercy on him) was asked about some
of them saying, "We hear and obey, Your forgiveness Our Lord, and to
You is our destiny" when not doing the prostration for a verse of
prostration because one isnot in a state of purity or is unable to
prostrate.
He replied: There is no basis for that and it cannot take the place of
the prostration; rather that is makrooh to do that, because nothing
concerning that was narrated. End quote.
Al-Fataawa al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kubra, 1/194
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim) was asked: When
weread the Book of Allah and we come to a sajdah, and we are in a
place other than the mosque or prayer room, such as the school and the
like, we say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lah,
lahu'l-mulk wa lahu'l-hamd wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadeer (there is
nogod but Allaah alone, withno partner or associate. His is the
Dominion and toHim be praise, and He is able to do all things) four
times. Is that permissible or not? If it is not permissible, what
should we do?
He replied:
When the reader comes to a verse of prostration, if he is in a place
where he can prostrate, then it ismustahabb for him to prostrate, but
it is not obligatory according to the more correct opinion, because it
is proven that 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him)
recited a verse of prostration when he was delivering the khutbah on a
Friday, and he came down (from the minbar) and prostrated, then he
recited it on the following Friday and did not prostrate, and he
said:Allah has not enjoined us to prostrate unless we want to. And
when he didnot prostrate, he did not say something instead of
prostrating, because that is an innovation. The evidence that is that
Zayd ibn Thaabit recited Soorat al-Najm in the presence ofthe Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and he did not prostrate,
and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not
teach him to say anything instead of prostrating.

And Allaah knows best.

Ruling on eating chicken that was fed hormones or ground meat

Does the meat of chicken grown by giving steroids ishalal evenif it is slaughtered correctly?
Praise be to Allaah.
If the manufactured food or medicines did not contain anything harmful or impure (najis), there is nothing wrong with eating chickens to whom they were fed, if they havebeen slaughtered in the proper shar'i manner by a Muslim or a kitaabi (i.e., Jew or Christian).
But if the feed or medicine is harmful to man, and willmake him sick, for example, it is haraam to feed them to chickens and to eat those chickens, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"and do not throw yourselves into destruction"
[al-Baqarah 2:195].
And the Prophet (blessingsand peace of Allah be uponhim) said: "There should be neither harming not reciprocating harm." Narrated by Ibn Maajah (2431) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Irwa' al-Ghaleel (896).
If the feed is naajis (impure), such as meat from animals that died without being slaughteredproperly (maytah) or blood and so on, that may be put in the feed, then the matter is subject to further discussion.
Is most of the feed is madefrom those impure substances or from taahir (pure) things such as grains and the like?
If most of the feed is pure, it is permissible to eat it, and there is nothing wrong with that.
But if most of its feed is naajis (impure) -- this is what the scholars call "an animal that feeds on filth" -- it is not permissible to eat unless it has been detained and fed with taahir food that will make its meat good.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said in al-Sharh al-Mumti' (11/298):
The animal that feeds on filth is one whose food is mostly impure (najaasah).
There are two scholarly views concerning this: one view is that it is haraam because it has been nourished by impure matter that has an effect on its meat.
The other view is that it is halaal. This is based on theidea that impure things become pure when they undergo a transformation. They said: The impurity that it ate has been transformed into blood, flesh and the like that grows in the body, so it is taahir. End quote.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:
The Prophet (blessings andpeace of Allah be upon him) forbade the milk of an animal that feeds on filth or impurity, but if the animal is detained until it becomes pure, then it is halaal according to Muslimconsensus, because before that the effect of the impurity could be seen in its milk, eggs and sweat, so it gave off a rotten and evil stench. Once that is removed, it becomes taahir (pure). If the ruling is established for a reason, it ceases to apply once that reason is no longer present.

And Allah knows best.