Assalaamu alaykum. I am suffering from Waswaas (obsessive whisperings) at the moment and would like to know one thing. When I was praying the ‘Asr, while bowing specifically, my hands were touching my knees, but for a brief moment, one of my fingers was not, so I put it back into place. Is my prayer valid given that this is a pillar of the prayer? I fear that this may be Waswaas because the devil has tried to trick me into thinking that one of my fingers may not be touching my knees before. Praise be to Allaah, I did not listen. What do you think?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The sufficient manner for bowing in the prayer is to bend your body forward so that your hands could touch your knees. It is not necessary to touch your knees with your whole hands; it is sufficient to bend forward in this manner and the bowing is thus valid. Hence, assuming that your finger did not touch your knee while bowing, this does not affect the validity of the prayer.

We advise you to ignore Waswaas (obsessive whispering) completely, as getting carried away with it leads to grave evils.

Allah knows best.